Health Law

This Chapter, Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), covers how the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) prohibits emergency departments from refusing care to patients with emergency medical conditions. EMTALA’s requirements can be broken down into three main obligations: First, any individual who presents to an emergency department must be given a medical screening examination. Second, if an emergency medical condition is identified, the hospital must stabilize the patient. Third, if the hospital does not have the capability to stabilize the patient, it must transfer the patient to another facility that has the capability and capacity to do so, and the receiving hospital has an obligation to accept the transfer.
This book provides an overview of the US laws that affect clinical practice for healthcare professionals with no legal background. Divided into thirteen sections, each chapter starts with a summary of the chapter's content and relevant legal concepts in bullet points before discussing the topics in detail. An application section is provided in many chapters to clarify essential issues by reflecting on clinically relevant case law or clinical vignette(s).  Filling a crucial gap in the literature, this comprehensive guide gives healthcare professionals an understanding or a starting point to legal aspects of healthcare.