Annals of emergency medicine
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We develop and assess variation in an emergency department (ED) admission intensity measure intended for value-based payment models. The measure includes ED diagnoses amenable to evidence-based protocols and where admission decisions vary based on physician discretion. ⋯ This set of ICD-10 diagnoses demonstrates face validity and stability for quarterly admission rates at the facility and physician levels. The measure may be useful to monitor facility admission rates in value-based models and reliably identify high and low admitters within facilities to manage admission variation.