EMTALA Q & A
Question: When may a patient be transferred to a physician’s office for definitive care?
Answer: When the physician’s office has necessary equipment that is not available anywhere in the hospital, such as eye equipment, and all other medical conditions have been dealt with, the Baltimore-based Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has allowed transfers to the physician’s private office — if they are treated and documented as a transfer to another hospital for higher level of care, says Stephen Frew, JD, president of the Rockford, IL-based Frew Consulting Group, which specializes in compliance with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). "That includes transport by ambulance unless refused in writing by the patient," he adds.
Question: Once a patient is admitted, under what timeframe must an attending physician see the patient?
Answer: CMS does not specify rules (yet) on this, but delays in seeing admitted patients have resulted in citations, Frew reports.
"I generally favor all admissions to critical care units be seen within 60 minutes," he says. "I also suggest that the hospital have a short time frame for admissions to pediatrics and a definite requirement for admission to other units. Relying on the 24-hour H&P rule is not sufficient, in my opinion."
[Editor’s note: If you have a question you’d like answered, contact Editor Lila Moore. Telephone: (520) 299-8730. E-mail: lilamoore@mindspring.com.]