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Why EMTALA is Important
All caregivers working in a hospital need to know about EMTALA. [Read more] Congress enacted EMTALA (The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act) following some well-publicized incidents in which some hospitals’ policies prevented patients in desperate need of emergency medical care from getting it because of their inability to pay for their treatment. EMTALA became law in 1986, and is often referred to as the “anti-dumping” law.
EMTALA prohibits hospital emergency departments and labor and delivery departments from delaying care, refusing to treat, or transferring patients to another hospital because they are unable to pay for their care. EMTALA, however, does not apply only to the emergency or labor and delivery departments, because a patient might present anywhere in the hospital with an emergency medical condition. EMTALA even applies to patients outside the hospital if they are within 250 yards of the main building. It also applies to hospital clinics that are located away from the hospital’s main campus.
The EMTALA: Screening, Stabilization, and Transfer Policy was developed with the purpose of being able to provide answers to caregivers’ questions about this somewhat complex law. You can review the policy by clicking here.