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In 1986, Congress enacted EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act). As most know, the federal EMTALA and Florida version of this law impose harsh penalties on hospitals which fail or refuse to evaluate emergency patients regardless of insurance or the patient’s ability to pay. EMTALA applies to virtually all hospitals with emergency departments and which participate in the Medicare program. However, there are higher standards and requirements under Florida’s version of the so-called “anti-dumping” law.While the federal EMTALA statutes require a facility to screen and stabilize or transfer such a patient, the Florida Statute (395.041) includes requirements that the hospital provide actual medical treatment for emergency medical conditions. The determination that an emergency condition exists is evaluated by a reasonable standard measurement in Florida. The federal EMTALA law only requires “stabilization” of that condition or transfer, but does not require treatment.
In Florida, if after conducting the mandated screening, examination and evaluation of the patient and a physician or provider concludes there is no “emergency” medical condition, the physician and hospital will avoid consequences in failing to treat that patient, provided this decision satisfies the reasonable standard. On the other hand, if the required screening and evaluation results in a decision that there is indeed an emergency medical condition, then the hospital is required to take appropriate and reasonable steps to actually provide treatment to that patient, regardless of the patient’s ability to pay. The treatment required is likewise measured by a reasonable standard. Section 395.1041(3)(a)(1), Florida Statutes, states hospitals “shall provide emergency services and care for an emergency medical condition when any person requests emergency services and care.” If the hospital does not have the resources or ability to treat that condition, then it has an obligation to transfer the patient to an appropriate facility for such treatment. “Emergency services and care” is described in another statute to encompass the medical screening, examination, evaluation, care, treatment, and surgery for an emergency medical condition. The definition of an emergency medical condition is a “medical condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity, which may include severe pain, such that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in serious consequences to the patient’s health or, with respect to a pregnant woman, the health and safety of the fetus.” Please note this brief overview does not address the applicability and immunity provided pursuant to Florida’s Good Samaritan Act. In conclusion, Florida hospitals and providers may face penalties and other liability if they fail to provide actual treatment to patients who present with an emergency medical condition.
