The rising number of uninsured patients has led to an increased reliance on the hospital emergency room for routine non-emergency care. The EMTALA is an example of a law that impacts who must be seen when presenting to the emergency room seeking care.

Question

How do the law and the medical profession’s codes of ethics impact those individuals that seek care from emergency departments for reasons other than those that are truly emergencies?

Answer 1

Read this about EMTALA.

http://www.emtala.com/

I'm sure there are many conditions that some would consider true emergencies and others would not.

What does your text say?