Critical Path Network: News Brief: AHA pushes for change in EMTALA regulations
Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) screening regulations should be changed to differentiate between critical and noncritical patients, according to a hospital administrator testifying on behalf of the American Hospital Association (AHA).
The change would allow caregivers to provide other options to noncritical patients during times of severe emergency (ED) department overcrowding, Jody Lehman, corporate vice president for Baptist Health South Florida, said in testimony before the Department of Health and Human Services’ Task Force on Regulatory Reform.
In the first of five hearings held by the task force, Lehman suggested additional reforms, including the formation of an EMTALA Advisory Committee, providing an administrator-level review in the complaint process, and excluding ED services from local medical review policies.
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