CMS to Publish Final EMTALA
Rule
September 5, 2003 - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS) Aug. 29 issued a press release announcing that
it will publish the final rule on the Emergency Medical Treatment
and Labor Act (EMTALA) in the Sept. 9 Federal Register.
EMTALA requires a hospital to provide an appropriate medical
screening examination to anyone who comes to the hospital
emergency department and requests treatment or an examination
for a medical condition. If the person has an emergency medical
condition, the hospital must either provide necessary stabilizing
treatment or an appropriate transfer to another facility.
The new rule defines an "emergency department" to
mean any hospital or facility of the hospital, whether situated
on or off the main hospital campus, that: (1) is licensed
by the state as an emergency room or emergency department;
(2) is held out to the public as providing care for emergency
medical conditions without requiring an appointment; or (3)
during its previous calendar year, has provided at least one-third
of all its outpatient visits for the treatment of emergency
medical conditions on an urgent basis.
The rule clarifies that EMTALA does not apply to individuals
who come to off-campus outpatient clinics that do not routinely
provide emergency services or to those who have begun to receive
scheduled, non-emergency outpatient services at the main campus.
The rule also does not apply after a patient has been seen,
screened, and admitted for inpatient hospital services, unless
the admission is made in bad faith to avoid the EMTALA requirements.
The rule also permits hospital departments that are off-campus
to provide the most effective way of caring for emergency
patients without requiring that the patient be moved to the
main campus--when this would be best for the patient.
Information:
Ivy Baer, Director & Regulatory Counsel
AAMC Health Care Affairs
ibaer@aamc.orc
(202) 828-0490
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