The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act Scenario Analysis

EMTALA
Name
Institutional affiliation EMTALA
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act was passed by Congress and play a significant role in determining when a patient can be denied treatment and when a patient is transferred from one medical institution to the next especially if he is in an emergency situation. EMTALA provides help for those who go into emergency rooms with severe conditions and cannot afford to pay for treatment. It was passed in 1986, but it has never received any funding mandate. It requires that the hospital offers treatment to the individual regardless of their ability to pay until the patient stabilizes. The EMTALA guidelines suggest that upon arrival at the hospital an analysis should be done to determine whether the situation qualifies to be classified as an 'emergency medical situation.' If it is not eligible, then the patient cannot get treatment. The bill also imposes a restriction on the transfer of patients who are exhibiting severe emergency medical conditions (Stiller, 2016). This means that if a patient is in a critical situation, the transfer should be halted until the patient is stable and ready for movement. As the administrator, I believe the physician in the other hospital had already done the analysis and determined that the patient needed a transfer to our hospital. The ED physician at our hospital has refused to accept the transfer although she is afraid of an EMTALA violation. Additionally, she has her reasons for declining the transfer. She states that the injury which is a broken upper arm is not dangerous as the fracture has not dislocated and can be viewed in the office.
I would ask her to reconsider her decision in declining the transfer. This is primarily because the other physician has alread...