Obligations And Understanding Of EMTALA At The Boston Medical Center

Obligations to provide care Name Institution Affiliation Obligations to provide care The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) was enacted in 1986 and requires all people at the emergency ward to receive the necessary first aid treatment regardless of their state or ability to pay (Desmond, 2016). It requires all hospitals to attend to all patients and anyone seeking treatment without any conditions. Furthermore, it prevents hospitals from transferring or discharging patients without their consent. Research had shown that hospitals were turning away patients for insignificant reasons such as to shelve the institution from the high anticipated diagnosis and treatment costs. The paper shall examine the mechanisms at Boston medical center that ensure the center complies with the EMTALA. Understanding EMTALA An emergency is from EMTALA’s perspective is defined as a situation that requires urgent resolution and failure to which the effects will be catastrophic. The best case example is the condition of a pregnant woman in hospital that has to be contained until the safe delivery of the child (Desmond, 2016). Boston medical center has a 24hrs state of the art emergency department with highly skilled doctors, emergency nurses and emergency medicine residents. The hospitals legal department constantly ensures strict adherence and compliance with the act. It carries out regular workshops to sensitize all employees on the act. Furthermore, it sends out frequent messages on email and puts out fliers explaining the act and the importance on overall health care. Obligations of EMTALA at the Boston Medical Center The employees at Boston medical center are morally bound to: * Attend to all patients and ensure they immediately conduct a medical screening to exact the extent of the condition without delaying as they seek to find out ...