Interhospital patient transfer. The case for informed consent.

Abstract

Increasing pressure to contain health care costs has led many hospitals to transfer poor and uninsured emergency department patients to other institutions. The transfer of patients for primarily economic reasons — a practice known as "patient dumping" — has become a serious problem nationwide.1 2 3 4 Amid growing concern that many transfers involve patients in unstable or even critical condition, several professional organizations and hospital associations have formulated voluntary guidelines to encourage responsibility in interhospital transfers.5 6 7 8 Recently, several state legislatures and the federal government have also enacted laws to control the worst abuses of patient dumping.9 , 10 Patient-transfer guidelines and laws have generally . . .