Does Emergency Room Have To Treat You

In most cases people should treat an urgent care center as they would a doctor s office albeit with longer more flexible hours and walk in availability.
Does emergency room have to treat you. Congress passed emtala to eliminate the practice of patient dumping i e refusal to treat people because of inability to pay or insufficient insurance or transferring or discharging emergency patients on the basis of high anticipated diagnosis and treatment costs. The hospital will most likely direct you to your own doctor or a community health clinic. Once at the hospital you may receive emergency care treatment to prevent another stroke rehabilitation to treat the side effects of stroke or all three. Your stroke treatment begins the moment emergency medical services ems arrives to take you to the hospital.
Fever of 102 f or higher especially if you have a chronic disease or are on steroids chemotherapy or. At the crux of the issue is the emergency medical treatment and active labor act emtala a federal law that seems to dictate that all people who enter an emergency room with an emergency must be treated. With such diverse regulations going to an urgent care center for a medical emergency is a gamble unless you are clear about what the center can or cannot treat. Additionally just because you were treated despite being uninsured doesn t mean the visit is free.
On the way to the hospital. 29 2018 the emergency medical treatment and labor act or emtala guarantees a certain level of medical care to anyone who comes to an emergency department that accepts payments from. If you re not experiencing an emergency and you don t have medical insurance or the ability to pay the hospital emergency room is not legally required to treat you. But don t run to your nearest emergency department in hopes of a free dose of codeine for your troublesome cold.
You never want to go to a doctor s office for chest pain or sudden weakness on one side. If you think you have an emergency by all means call an ambulance or get yourself to the emergency room. Those are the types of things an emergency doc is well prepared to handle. Please keep in mind just because you go to the emergency room it does not mean you will be seen if your situation does not constitute an emergency.
You know what s not a life threatening emergency.