Hospital A’s chief financial officer (CFO) is concerned that there are two ongoing EMTALA investigations by the State Department of Health against Hospital A for two inappropriate patient tr

Topic
Evaluation Methods for Quality Initiative for EMTALA Complaints
Scenario:
Hospital A’s chief financial officer (CFO) is concerned that there are two ongoing EMTALA investigations by the State Department of Health against Hospital A for two inappropriate patient transfers in the last two weeks. As part of its ongoing investigation, the State Department of Health has noted that there was a failure to conduct a basic medical screening examination/stabilization for each patient in the emergency department of Hospital A. Sanctions against Hospital A are pending.
Complaints were originally filed by Hospital B (the receiving hospital) against Hospital A for the inappropriate transfer of two patients to Hospital B. This situation is more commonly known as “patient dumping.” Both patients were over 60, lacked insurance, and had a history of heart failure. The two inappropriate transfers were by the same emergency physician.
Hospital A’s leadership has identified a quality improvement plan with four initiatives related to EMTALA that they want to implement
Do you think the evaluation method is implementable in the short term and long term? Is the evaluation method sustainable and effective? Do you think it would need to be adjusted after some time?