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Hospitals may safely upgrade the patient acuity classifications of their emergency department triage systems, but they cannot downgrade them, for fear of violating the requirements of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
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A recent decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court involving the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) offers several take-home points for access managers and others charged with overseeing emergency department operations, says Stephen A. Frew, JD, a risk management attorney and web site publisher.
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A “bankruptcy bill” signed into law in April will make it harder for consumers to shield their assets and avoid paying off medical bills and other debt, according to some industry observers.
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The HIPAA transaction standards have not resulted in the uniformity and efficiency envisioned when HIPAA was adopted. That’s the opinion of the HIPAA Implementation Working Group, which were presented in testimony to the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics.
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The American Hospital Association says it is “troubled” by a Department of Health and Human Services plan to publicize the identity of those covered entities given civil monetary penalties under enforcement of HIPAA’s administrative simplification section.
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A Department of Justice legal opinion, issued at the request of the Department of Health and Human Services, stated that only covered entities and those people rendered accountable by general principles of corporate criminal liability may be prosecuted under criminal enforcement provisions of the HIPAA Administrative Simplification section.
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One of the biggest discharge planning challenges at Sutter General Hospital in Sacramento, CA, involves patients who need dialysis after they come into the hospital, says Kate Tenney, RN, manager of case management.
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An unusual collaboration among three competing California hospitals is providing much-needed post-discharge care for homeless people. It is linking those individuals to ongoing medical benefits while freeing up hospital beds for more acute patients.