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Duties, Responsibilities And Rights Of The Provider

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Duties, Responsibilities and Rights of the Provider Under EMTALA EMTALA affects the hospitals or providers that get reimbursed by Medicare. Almost every hospital or provider accepts Medicare in the United States. Under the EMTALA statues, the provider has a duty to render an appropriate medical screening examination to the patient in distress and necessary treatment or reasonable care to stabilize the patient’s emergency medical condition. EMTALA defines an emergency medical condition as a medical condition that presents with such acute symptoms that a patient’s health, bodily functions, or organs could be severely harmed without prompt medical attention. If the patient’s chest pain is not determined as an emergency medical condition based …show more content…

Ignorance and violations of the policies and principles can be presented as evidence of negligence in court. For example, the provider is permitted to inquire about the patient’s health insurance status as part of registration procedures. However, any delay in an examination or treatment should not be allowed due to the prior authorization requirement by the patient’s managed care organization or uncertainty of payment from the patient. As part of its duty to provide an appropriate examination and reasonable care, the provider should ensure that the patient is seen and treated by licensed and certified personnel and physicians trained on emergency care. Whether the provider directly hires emergency department physicians or contracts with a physician group to offer emergency services, the medical staff of the provider is responsible for monitoring the standards of care and determining medical staff privileges for emergency department physicians. The provider or its medical staff must also designate a qualified medical professional to conduct the medical screening exam and sign documents certifying a transfer in the event that a physician is not present. The provider bylaws should oblige on-call physicians to provide phone consultations and specify the scenarios in which on-call physicians must see patients. If the provider is a teaching facility, the provider is responsible for ensuring medical students are

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