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When Patients Require Transfer

By Angela Forstie
May 22, 2011

It is a common occurrence in the emergency department for a patient to be transferred from one facility to another. Generally speaking, Federal law ' specifically the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) ' provides regulatory oversight regarding transfers.

However, there are few cases extending the EMTALA regulatory scheme to private causes of action for malpractice. And some states provide an immunity defense for emergency care providers unless there is proof of “gross negligence.” In such states, the immunity defense may apply through the time the patient is “stabilized.” What is less clear, however, is whether the immunity applies when the patient needs to transferred to a different medical facility for appropriate treatment of the emergency condition. In such situations, some of the questions include whether the emergency department providers arranging for the transfer are still entitled to immunity, whether the immunity is limited by time, or whether the immunity ends because of the amount of time it took to acquire the transfer.

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