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EMTALA Scenario Analysis

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EMTALA Scenario Analysis

The EMTALA is a crucial labor law that ensures that patients receive the care they

require at the hospital of their choice. “All patients who visit an emergency department are

needed to be given a medical screening inspection. “to see if he has an "emergency

medical condition." If such is the situation, the infirmary must treat him until he is stable

or relocate him to a different hospital in harmony with the statute's requirements. (Image

courtesy of [Link]).

The "anti-dumping" regulation was enacted to ban hospitals from shifting

uninsured or Medicaid patients to government hospitals without first completing a health

assessment exam to confirm that they were stable enough to be transferred. As a result,

municipal and state organizations started to relinquish the obligation for charity care,

transferring it to all hospitals.

This labor statute was enacted in response to concerns with Medicare beneficiaries

receiving sufficient treatment. This is why patients would be transferred to public hospitals

when they came for treatment. "Hospitals and physicians breaching EMTALA are subject

to civil monetary fines ($50,000 per violation) and the prospect of Medicare

decertification," according to the law. Between January 2013 and March 2015, 29

EMTALA infractions resulted in fines totaling more than one million dollars.

If you decide to reject the patient, is this a violation of EMTALA?

I would be allowed to refuse this patient as the hospital administrator without

violating EMTALA. Because the patient is now in a hospital that can treat his injuries, this

is not a breach of the EMTALA rules. Even if the present physician feels worried, the

patient is now in an emergency room and has access to a physician at hospital B who could

do the sutures. "In order to prove an EMTALA breach," the plaintiff must demonstrate that
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(1) a hospital runs an emergency department and that it is a medicinal hospital covered by

EMTALA (or a corresponding treatment aptitude); (2) The patient has reached a treatment

site; and (3) either (a) didn’t give the patient an appropriate test to determine either he or

she had an emergency medical condition, or (b) bade a patient's farewell without first

strengthening an emergency medical situation (through turning him or her, discharging, or

improvised transmission).' of the 50 countries implemented federal law similarly.

"(Kahntroff, Watson). If the patient were moved, it would be unethical and a violation of

EMTALA. This is because the patient will not be receiving care as quickly as feasible.

EMTALA would also be violated if the patient were moved because they don't need a

higher level of treatment and don't go to an establishment. In my perspective, the hospital

is attempting to move the patient because the physician is concerned about treating the

patient.

What decision will you make as the administrator?

In this case, I would refuse the patient even though it does not violate EMALA. At

this time, the patient can be treated at the existing location. Hospital A has evaluated the

patient's medical data and determined that he or she does not need to be moved (Ossei-

Owusu, 2017). By moving from hospital B to hospital A, the patient is not being moved to

a better level of care. As the administrator I am responsible for, I would formally write up

the on-call ENT for drinking alcohol while on call in this case.

If there was an emergency, the ENT drinking might put patients and the facility in

peril. It's also possible that the ENT's decision on the case will be challenged since they

drank alcohol." Conferring to the American Medical Association's (AMA) Code of

Medical Ethics9 section E-8.15, It is unprofessional for a general practitioner to receive

treatment while under the influence of a restricted drug, alcohol, or other chemical agents
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that prejudice the capacity to practice medicine." (Ossei-Owusu, 2017). The AMA House

of Delegates has also proposed that (1) urges physicists in the field of patient care not to be

substantially alcoholic in body content and (2) urges all doctors to refrain from taking an

alcohol intake that may cause performance impairment or cause 'sustainable effect,' before

it is made available as patients. (Ossei-Owusu, 2017). I would contact another ENT in the

hospital because the ENT was under effect to make sure it had the proper call.

Based on this scenario, what could be implemented to prevent this situation from

occurring in the future?

A circumstance like that might prevent the future from happening. There are

numerous things. The importance of understanding and seriousness of EMALA policies is,

in my opinion, highly crucial to every doctor and medical personnel. I would implement

compulsory employee training to ensure that everyone grasps EMALA laws and

regulations (Schmalz & Sawyer, 2020). I want to make sure doctors know about the three

primary EMTALA requirements of the hospital. The principal duties of hospitals under

EMTALA are three: Any person coming to seek medical examination or therapy must

have a medical check-up to identify whether a medical issue exists in the event of an

emergency (Balasubramanian, 2017). The methods of payment or insurance cover cannot

be postponed.

Emergency departments must also post signs that indicate their rights to a medical

screening test and stabilization of treatments to the patients and visitors. If a medical

emergency arises, therapy must be administered until resolved or stabilized (Schmalz &

Sawyer, 2020). If a hospital is unable to stabilize a patient's medical condition in

accordance with EMTALA criteria, a "suitable" transfer to another hospital is needed

(Schmalz & Sawyer, 2020). Specialized hospitals must accept transfers from hospitals that
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are unable to handle unstable situations in an emergency. In addition, when a hospital has

cause to think that a person was received in an unstable situation in breach of the

EMTALA," he says. ([Link],org).

Under what scenario would the hospital A physician be concerned about an

EMTALA situation?

Any patient who presents to the emergency department for treatment or

examination must be given an adequate medical screening examination. All patients who

visit an emergency department are required to be given a medical screening examination

(Schmalz & Sawyer, 2020). If the patient requires more care than the facilities can

provide, Hospital A will have to accept the transfer (Schmalz & Sawyer, 2020). In other

words, the hospital A physician is apprehensive about violating EMTALA by rejecting a

drunken patient (Ossei-Owusu, 2017). The on-call doctor must arrive on schedule. Even if

he indicated to the hospital b doctor indicating that there is no need for the high level of

care and that he can be treated at their hospital, he violates EMTALA since he rejects the

case because he is inebriated.

References

Schmalz, A., & Sawyer, N. T. (2020). The EMTALA Loophole in Psychiatric

Care. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 21(2), 244.

[Link]

Balasubramanian, S. (2017). Examining The Impacts Of Current Malpractice Frameworks

And EMTALA on Emergency Medicine. Nova Law Review, 41(2), 6.

[Link]

Ossei-Owusu, S. (2017). Code red: the essential yet neglected role of emergency care in

health law reform. American journal of law & medicine, 43(4), 344-387.

[Link]

(n.d.). EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment And Labor Act). Retrieved from

[Link]