EMTALA_guideline v.1
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, EMTALA determines whether the patient is in need of urgent care based on the law definition of an emergency condition.
To check whether the patient requires urgent care.
If at least one of the conditions in EMTALA is present, then the medical emergency is established. There are two questions that are asked, their answers making up five criteria for the evaluation. Has the current medical condition which requires urgent care any of the following characteristics? - Places the health of the individual (or, with respect to a pregnant woman, the health of the woman or her unborn child) in serious jeopardy - Is expected to result in serious impairment to bodily functions or - Is expected to result in serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part With respect to a pregnant woman who is having contractions: - there is inadequate time to effect a safe transfer to another hospital before delivery, or - that transfer may pose a threat to the health or safety of the woman or the unborn child
42 U.S. Code § 1395dd - Examination and treatment for emergency medical conditions and women in labor. Zibulewsky J. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA): what it is and what it means for physicians. Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2001 Oct;14(4):339-46. doi: 10.1080/08998280.2001.11927785. PMID: 16369643; PMCID: PMC1305897. Mercado-Alvarado J, Oliveras García C. EMTALA: que es, sus origenes y como funciona en Puerto Rico [EMTALA: what it is, its origins, and how it functions in Puerto Rico]. Bol Asoc Med P R. 2009 Jul-Sep;101(3):19-21. Spanish. PMID: 20120981. Glass DL, Rebstock J, Handberg E. Emergency Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). Avoiding the pitfalls. J Perinat Neonatal Nurs. 2004 Apr-Jun;18(2):103-14; quiz 115-6. doi: 10.1097/00005237-200404000-00005. PMID: 15214249.
openEHR-EHR-OBSERVATION.emtala_emergency_medical_care, openEHR-EHR-EVALUATION.emtala_assessment
