Abstract
IntroductionThe Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) was intended to prevent inadequate, delayed, or denied treatment of emergent conditions by emergency departments (ED). While controversies exist regarding the scope of the law, there is no question that EMTALA applies to active labor, a key tenet of the statute and the only medical condition – labor – specifically included in the title of the law. In light of rising maternal mortality rates in the United States, further exploration into the state of emergency obstetrical (OB) care is warranted. Understanding civil monetary penalty settlements levied by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) related to EMTALA violations involving labor and other OB emergencies will help to inform the current state of access to and quality of OB emergency care.MethodsWe reviewed descriptions of all EMTALA-related OIG civil monetary penalty settlements from 2002–2018. OB-related cases were identified using keywords in settlement descriptions. We described characteristics of settlements including the nature of the allegation and compared them with non-OB settlements.ResultsOf 232 EMTALA-related OIG settlements during the study period, 39 (17%) involved active labor and other OB emergencies. Between 2002 and 2018 the proportion of settlements involving OB emergencies increased from 17% to 40%. Seven (18%) of these settlements involved a pregnant minor. Most OB cases involved failure to provide screening exam (82%) and/or stabilizing treatment (51%). Failure to arrange appropriate transfer was more common for OB (36%) compared with non-OB settlements (21%) (p = 0.041). Fifteen (38%) involved a provider specifically directing a pregnant woman to proceed to another hospital, typically by private vehicle.ConclusionDespite inclusion of the term “labor” in the law’s title, one in six settlements related to EMTALA violations involved OB emergencies. One in five settlements involved a pregnant minor, indicating that providers may benefit from education regarding obligations to evaluate and stabilize minors absent parental consent. Failure to arrange appropriate transfer was more common among OB settlements. Findings suggesting need for providers to understand EMTALA-specific requirements for appropriate transfer and for EDs at hospitals without dedicated OB services to implement policies for evaluation of active labor and protocols for transfer when indicated.
Highlights
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) was intended to prevent inadequate, delayed, or denied treatment of emergent conditions by emergency departments (ED)
Understanding civil monetary penalty settlements levied by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) related to EMTALA violations involving labor and other OB emergencies will help to inform the current state of access to and quality of OB emergency care
Despite inclusion of the term “labor” in the law’s title, one in six settlements related to EMTALA violations involved OB emergencies
Summary
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) was intended to prevent inadequate, delayed, or denied treatment of emergent conditions by emergency departments (ED). While controversies exist regarding the scope of the law, there is no question that EMTALA applies to active labor, a key tenet of the statute and the only medical condition – labor – included in the title of the law. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) was enacted in 1986, in response to highly publicized incidents of inadequate, delayed, or denied treatment of uninsured patients including pregnant women by emergency departments (ED).[1,2,3,4] While controversies exist regarding the scope of EMTALA,[5] there is no question that the law applies to active labor, a key tenet of the statute and the only condition included in the title of the law. Prior systematic studies have described general patterns of EMTALA enforcement,[6] resulting fines,[7,8,9,10] impact of the law on on-call coverage,[11] and patterns of EMTALA transfers for surgical subspecialty care.[12,13,14,15,16,17] Despite the fact that labor is the only medical condition named in the title of the law, EMTALA violations related to labor and other OB emergencies have not previously been systematically described in the peer-reviewed medical literature
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