That quote is absolutely, positively wrong! If you present to any
hospital with an Emergency Department and they turn you away because you
can't or won't pay (ask me off list about this) or even cause you to
consider leaving because you can't pay, they are violating the EMTALA.
Anybody that presents must be given a Medical Screening Exam:
In 1986, Congress enacted the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor
Act (EMTALA) to ensure public access to emergency services
regardless of ability to pay. Section 1867 of the Social Security
Act imposes specific obligations on Medicare-participating hospitals
that offer emergency services to provide a medical screening
examination (MSE) when a request is made for examination or
treatment for an emergency medical condition (EMC), including active
labor, regardless of an individual's ability to pay. Hospitals are
then required to provide stabilizing treatment for patients with
EMCs. If a hospital is unable to stabilize a patient within its
capability, or if the patient requests, an appropriate transfer
should be implemented. (http://www.cms.hhs.gov/emtala/)
If anybody turns a complaint in to the state Dept. of Health Services,
that hospital will be investigated and if found guilty will be fined a
pretty fair amount ($50k/occurrence, IIRC) and they don't just look for
that one incident, they're gonna be going through all of your records
looking for any more. I personally sat with a DHS Surveyor for 2hrs
looking for any records of a Patient (Pt) that stated in their
complaint, that someone at our facility told them to "Get the hell out
of our ED!" I searched every database to which I had access and finally
looked at the surveyor and said "I don't think that person has ever been
here, at least under that name." She agreed and said that our Medical
Records department had come to the same conclusion, but it had to be
investigated.
Now, if the Pt is waiting in the ED Lobby because we're backed up for
any length of time and they choose to leave of their own free will, we
mark them as Left W/O Being Seen (LWOBS). If we've done any
labs/xrays/EKGs we're going to eat that, but we also document the fact
that the Pt left despite our efforts for them to be seen.
BTW, John Stossel lost any & all credibility for me when it was
announced he was moving to Fox News. Wouldn't have made any difference
if it was CNN, either.
Geoff Pangrac, RN
[email protected] wrote:
> In a message dated 9/24/2009 6:23:45 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> [email protected] writes:
>
> Every major city has hospitals for people of all means and no one
> can be turned away for serious care, that's the law.
>
> *No, that is NOT the law. To get medical care when you can't pay for
> it you'd better be brought in by an ambulance after having been in an
> automobile accident. If you walk in with no money, you'll be directed
> back out the door. *
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