Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
-
The objective was to describe characteristics of civil monetary penalties levied by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) related to violations of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) involving psychiatric emergencies. ⋯ Nearly one in five civil monetary penalty settlements related to EMTALA violations involved psychiatric emergencies. Settlements related to psychiatric emergencies were more costly and more often associated with failure to stabilize than for nonpsychiatric emergencies. Administrators should evaluate and strengthen policies and procedures related to psychiatric screening examinations, stabilizing care of psychiatric patients boarding in EDs, and transfer policies. Recent large, notable settlements related to EMTALA violations suggest that there is considerable room to improve access to and quality of care for patients with psychiatric emergencies.