A new OIG CMP rule effective January 6, 2017 clarifies the liability guidelines for EMTALA violations. The rule affirmed that willful conduct by a provider is not required for the OIG to impose penalties for EMTALA violations and revised the definition of “responsible physician” to clarify that on-call physicians at hospitals with specialized capabilities are considered responsible physicians subject to EMTALA.
The new rule removes “intent to leave” as a mitigating factor, adds “corrective action” as a mitigating factor and adds “risk of patient harm” as an aggravating factor. Because alleged EMTALA violations increasingly include allegations against the hospital and the responsible physician, a potential conflict of interest exists between the hospital and the responsible physician, due to the temptation to divert blame by pointing fingers. The hospital and the responsible physician should have separate legal counsel. For physicians, EMTALA violation findings can become medical license disciplinary actions.