Civil Monetary Penalties Resulting From Violations of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) Involving Psychiatric Emergencies, 2002 to 2018

© 2019 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine..

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to describe characteristics of civil monetary penalties levied by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) related to violations of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) involving psychiatric emergencies.

METHODS: Descriptions of EMTALA-related civil monetary penalty settlements from 2002 to 2018 were obtained from the OIG. Cases related to psychiatric emergencies were identified by inclusion of key words in settlement descriptions. Characteristics of settlements involving EMTALA violations related to psychiatric emergencies including date, amount, and nature of the allegation were described and compared with settlements not involving psychiatric emergencies.

RESULTS: Of 230 civil monetary penalty settlements related to EMTALA during the study period, 44 (19%) were related to psychiatric emergencies. The average settlement for psychiatric-related cases was $85,488, compared with $32,004 for non-psychiatric-related cases (p < 0.001). Five (83%) of the six largest settlements during the study period were related to cases involving psychiatric emergencies. The most commonly cited deficiencies for settlements involving psychiatric patients were failure to provide appropriate medical screening examination (84%) or stabilizing treatment (68%) or arrange appropriate transfer (30%). Failure to provide stabilizing treatment was more common among cases involving psychiatric emergencies (68% vs. 51%, p = 0.041). Among psychiatric-related settlements, 18 (41%) occurred in CMS Region IV (Southeast) and nine (20%) in Region VII (Central).

CONCLUSIONS: Nearly one in five civil monetary penalty settlements related to EMTALA violations involved psychiatric emergencies. Settlements related to psychiatric emergencies were more costly and more often associated with failure to stabilize than for nonpsychiatric emergencies. Administrators should evaluate and strengthen policies and procedures related to psychiatric screening examinations, stabilizing care of psychiatric patients boarding in EDs, and transfer policies. Recent large, notable settlements related to EMTALA violations suggest that there is considerable room to improve access to and quality of care for patients with psychiatric emergencies.

Errataetall:

CommentIn: Acad Emerg Med. 2019 May;26(5):574-579. - PMID 30884046

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2019

Erschienen:

2019

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:26

Enthalten in:

Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine - 26(2019), 5 vom: 01. Mai, Seite 470-478

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Terp, Sophie [VerfasserIn]
Wang, Brandon [VerfasserIn]
Burner, Elizabeth [VerfasserIn]
Connor, Denton [VerfasserIn]
Seabury, Seth A [VerfasserIn]
Menchine, Michael [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Journal Article
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 03.03.2020

Date Revised 22.05.2020

published: Print-Electronic

CommentIn: Acad Emerg Med. 2019 May;26(5):574-579. - PMID 30884046

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1111/acem.13710

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM296149012