Reference no: EM132693496

The Case of Board Member Perception

As the CEO, you have gotten used to the board members of the Inner City Community Hospital (ICCH), and they appear to be getting used to you.

One board member has been doing some reading regarding patient admission to hospitals and comes to you with what he believes to be a money-making idea. Physicians are not required to treat people who cannot afford to pay for their services. However, indigent persons can be admitted into a hospital if they are first seen in the emergency department. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) prohibits hospitals from turning away indigent people in need of care.

The board member suggests to you that the emergency department should be closed at once. Without an emergency department, according to the board member, the hospital's financial picture would greatly improve because it would be providing almost no indigent care.

Questions

Discuss what action you would take. Include in your discussion:

i. The importance of the ED within ICCH.

ii. The role of the ED as an outpatient setting for ICCH.

iii. In what ways the idea of closing down the ED will hurt ICCH?

iv. In what ways can the running of the ED be turned into a money-making idea?

v. Is EMTALA in support or in opposition to the provisions of primary health care? What are your views on this provided that some patients use the ED as a regular site for their care?