AMA probes emergency medicine woes

Delegates say the nation's emergency departments are in critical condition; physicians and a new government report say EMTALA is not solely to blame.

By Amy Snow Landa, AMNews staff. July 9/16, 2001.

Chicago -- Some physicians are insisting that emergency medicine faces a crisis that requires the urgent attention of the AMA.

As evidence, they point to a growing number of emergency departments that are overcrowded, understaffed and increasingly reliant on the practice of diverting patients.

"In our state, we have a crisis in terms of getting our patients into emergency rooms," Houston urologist Paul Handel, MD, said at the AMA Annual Meeting in June. "This truly is an urgent problem, and we are urging our AMA to respond."

In response, the House of Delegates voted to study the problems of overcrowding, diversion and the lack of hospital beds for inpatient admissions, and to develop a plan to reduce or eliminate those problems.

The adoption of this new measure comes on the heels of similar action taken at the 2000 Interim Meeting. At that time, the house called for the AMA to develop a plan to address physicians' concerns regarding the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act.

Recent expansions of the law are widely viewed by hospitals and physicians as overly burdensome and a strain on hospital EDs. The AMA, along with 30 national medical specialty societies, earlier this year asked the government to stop broadening EMTALA.

Many hospital officials and emergency physicians say EMTALA has encouraged more people to come in for treatment -- not just for emergencies. The resulting increase in patient volume, they say, has significantly contributed to overcrowding, long delays and higher costs for providing uncompensated care. [...]