Compliance Perspectives: Healthcare Compliance at the Border
On August 13, 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and its Center for Clinical Standards and Quality / Quality, Safety & Oversight Group issued its memorandum QSO-24-17-EMTALA (the “Memorandum”),...more
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced the release of updated model signage for use by Medicare-participating hospitals to inform patients of their rights under the Emergency Medical Treatment...more
Almost 40 years after its passing, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) remains not only a key consideration for hospitals with emergency departments, but also a significant federal enforcement...more
On May 1st, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced investigations into two hospitals that did not provide necessary stabilizing treatment to a pregnant individual experiencing an emergency medical...more
Distances in rural health care can be hard to fathom. A 2018 study found it took rural Americans, on average, 17 minutes to get to a hospital, but only 10 minutes in an urban center. The distance between rural hospitals can...more
The terms clinically stable and stable for transfer are frequently used by and familiar to emergency department and hospital staff. When it comes to compliance with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) in...more
On January 30, 2023, President Biden announced that both the COVID-19 national emergency and the public health emergency (PHE) will end May 11, 2023. This announcement has left many healthcare providers considering how the...more
In recent months, decisions and laws limiting abortion rights in the United States have forced health care providers that serve pregnant women to keep abreast of quickly changing legal restrictions affecting their...more
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requires hospitals with emergency departments and participating in Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) programs to provide medical screening, treatment and...more
On Aug. 24, the United States District Court for the District of Idaho issued a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of Idaho’s new abortion law. The law was set to take effect on Aug. 25, 2022....more
On Aug. 2, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit against the state of Idaho to block a state abortion law set to take effect on Aug. 25, claiming that it violates the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor...more
California hospitals should be aware of a new California Court of Appeal decision that explores whether hospitals can be held liable for failing to disclose their emergency room fees to patients prior to evaluating/treating...more
On April 15, 2022, the D.C. Circuit affirmed the denial of a California hospital’s request to obtain critical access hospital cost reimbursement from Medicare for the costs incurred to keep non-emergency specialty physicians...more
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Emergency Department (ED) visits had risen more than 60 percent since 1997 to about 146 million, with nearly 46 visits per 100 persons in 2016. With waves of COVID-19 cases overwhelming the...more
In a recent decision in Gray v. Dignity Health, the California Court of Appeal analyzed the impact of the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (“EMTALA”) statute, and similar provisions of California law,...more
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986 (EMTALA) is designed to prevent patient "dumping." It applies to all individuals coming to the emergency department (ED) of a hospital that accepts Medicare...more
On April 28, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued Frequently Asked Questions for Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals regarding EMTALA (FAQs) as a supplement to the memorandum on the Emergency...more
Laws like EMTALA and HIPAA don’t just apply to US citizens. They apply to everyone. That both keeps things simple and adds complexity when it comes to undocumented immigrants. As Lesley Anne Durant, Senior Corporate...more
Even in this time of crisis, nothing has changed about a hospital’s obligation to comply with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). However, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued...more
On March 30, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS") updated its guidance previously issued on March 9 regarding a hospital’s ongoing obligations under Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act ("EMTALA") amidst...more
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) ensures public access to emergency medical services regardless of ability to pay. EMTALA requires Medicare-participating hospitals with emergency departments (EDs) to, at...more
Hospitals are the first place people look to for COVID-19 testing and treatment. Now the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has made it easier for those hospitals on the front lines. Our Health Care Group examines four...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued additional guidance regarding Emergency Medical Treatment And Labor Act requirements (EMTALA) as they relate to hospitals’ screening and treatment of patients...more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, health care providers have been faced with numerous questions about how to effectively treat patients during the pandemic while still complying will all applicable laws. ...more
As the coronavirus pandemic has unfolded, hospitals across the country have begun asking how the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) will be applied to them when they are confronted with individuals coming to...more