CMS issues guidance on handling surges, staying EMTALA compliant during flu season

In anticipation of the possible influx of patients to the emergency department related to the upcoming flu season and an anticipated H1N1 resurgence, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued information on EMTALA requirements to help hospitals plan for demand surges. The CMS issued a memo and a fact sheet regarding the flexibility allowed under the law during disasters. The memo notes that the law provides for waivers of certain EMTALA requirements in a declared public health emergency. The guidance also states that hospitals may set up alternative screening sites either on  or off-campus and that communities may set up screening clinics at sites not under the control of a hospital. For more information, view the memo and fact sheet at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/downloads/SCLetter09_52.pdf. (LaWanna Halstead)