The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #43185

Christie L. Hager, JD, MPH, Schneider Institute for Health Policy, Brandeis University, 415 South St., MS 035, Waltham, MA 02454, 781 736-3978, hager@brandeis.edu

Since 1986, the Emergency Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) has provided the statutory framework for appropriate access to emergency care in the hospital emergency department. As managed care patient protection laws on the state level have provided for expanded insurance coverage for emergency department care over the past few years, so have strains on various aspects of the health care market created a new crisis in emergency department overcrowding that extends beyond an annual flu season. Local care, state regulation, and federal law meet at the juncture of EMTALA litigation related to ambulance diversion and the state regulatory response to limitations in a system that relies increasingly on emergency and non-emergency care alike, provided in hospital emergency departments. The tensions between them form the policy backdrop. The policy considerations for emergency department overcrowding defy state borders, and extend beyond state regulatory mechanisms that were designed in a time when both supply and demand were so different than they are today.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will be able to

• List recent federal court decisions regarding EMTALA.
• Identify policy issues facing state regulators related to the tension between EMTALA compliance and preserving patient access to appropriate emergency department care.
• Discuss state approaches to resolving the problem of emergency department overcrowding.

Keywords: Emergency Department/Room, Regulations

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.