Articles Tagged With: EMTALA
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U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision on Emergency Abortions Raises More Questions than Answers
The big question for OB/GYNs, emergency department (ED) physicians, and the reproductive healthcare community is whether the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on June 27, 2024, in the case of Idaho and Moyle v. United States, will change emergency care for pregnant women in the United States.
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What Did Supreme Court Justices Say About EMTALA and Abortion?
By the end of June, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide on whether Idaho and other states can require hospitals — through criminal laws — to turn away pregnant women experiencing a major health crisis when the best treatment for them is an abortion to end their pregnancy. Idaho presented a case that their state law preempts the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), and the federal government argued that EMTALA and the mission of protecting patients’ health and lives takes precedence.
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EMTALA Has Protected Pregnant Patients for Three Decades — Now That Could Be at Risk
Health-preserving emergency care for pregnant women could be up to each physician’s conscience and risk-taking ability after the U.S. Supreme Court debates whether the state of Idaho is exempt from providing emergency abortion care to women who may lose their uteruses or kidneys or suffer other major health problems with delayed abortion care.
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Risk Managers Valued in Compliance Program Guidance from OIG
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General recently issued its new General Compliance Program Guidance, the first of a series of compliance guidelines expected from the OIG, providing guidance, tools, and references addressed to federal healthcare program providers and suppliers. OIG makes clear that risk managers are an integral part of the effort.
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Society of Family Planning Issues Clinical Recommendation for Medication Abortion
As maternity and OB/GYN deserts spread across the United States, medication abortion to expel the fetus and placenta from the uterus without a surgical procedure is possible and can work safely and well between 14 weeks and nearly 28 weeks of gestation. There are few absolute contraindications to medication abortion from 14 to 27 weeks of gestation, according to the Society of Family Planning and Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s new clinical recommendation.
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EDs Are Getting Clarity on State Abortion Laws
After the Dobbs decision, clinical practices changed in some EDs in states with abortion bans. The changes did not come about directly because of state laws, per se, but more so over uncertainty about how the laws could be interpreted.
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EMTALA Still Poses Challenges After All These Years
EMTALA has encouraged the safe care of emergent patients since 1986, yet it still poses significant compliance challenges and hospitals are cited for violations. Understanding the potential pitfalls and best practices can help healthcare organizations avoid serious consequences.
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EMTALA Concerns if Patients Ask About Delays
Are discouraging comments an EMTALA violation? Investigators would examine factors such as what exactly was stated, under what circumstances the comment was made, whether the information was truthful and accurate, and whether it discouraged the patient from staying in the ED and receiving care.
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Lawsuits, Complaints Detail Medical Terror Some Pregnant Patients Face
Since states like Missouri and Texas rushed to ban abortion, using language that is vague and with narrow exceptions, hospitals and physicians across the South and in other areas with abortion bans are denying health-saving care to pregnant patients in crisis.
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Abortion Bans End Standard Pregnancy Care in Large Swaths of the United States
When South Carolina and North Carolina passed abortion bans in May 2023, they were among the last states in the Southeast to end standard pregnancy and abortion care. Standard abortion care for women in most of the South and parts of the Midwest will now be denied to all but a small percentage of people. Those who want or need abortion care a couple of months into pregnancy will need to travel hundreds of miles to a state where abortion care is legal.