From the Chicago Tribune
Executives at the University of Chicago Medical Center had hoped their initiative to divert some patients from its emergency room would spark a healthy national debate.
Now they’ve got one.
The nation’s largest group of emergency physicians on Thursday condemned U. of C.’s plans, saying it comes “dangerously close” to violating federal law and calling for a congressional investigation. U. of C.’s initiative is aimed at clearing its ER of patients with non-urgent injuries and illnesses by redirecting them to community hospitals and clinics.
The U. of C. maintains its Urban Health Initiative is about getting patients the right treatment at the appropriate location amid a tough economic climate and that the plan does not violate the law.
But in an unusual attack, the emergency physicians organization said the hospital is failing in its obligation to treat emergency patients. The group, which represents 26,000 doctors nationwide, also expressed “grave” concerns that U. of C.’s policy is “dangerously close to patient dumping,” a practice made illegal by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act.
The group also is concerned other medical centers across the country could adopt similar strategies to cope with long waits for emergency treatment and rising health costs amid the deepening recession, which is what U. of C. said were the primary drivers of its initiative.
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