Emergencies happen every day in a hospital – and not just in the emergency department. Regardless of a hospital’s size or location, provisions must be in place to address and treat emergency care issues for patients, including obstetrical patients. Every hospital that has a dedicated emergency department and accepts Medicare and Medicaid payment must follow the federal law and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Conditions of Participation Interpretive Guidelines on the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). Even hospitals without such emergency departments must comply with EMTALA if they have specialized capabilities; for example, EMTALA can impact obstetrical patients and behavioral health patients.

Please join the KHA quality team in welcoming special guest speaker, Laura Dixon, BS, JD, RN, CPHRM, to discuss the above challenges. Laura’s program will provide information on CMS requirements for hospitals to meet both emergency services, including the recently implemented maternal safety standards, and a brief recap of EMTALA.

 Objectives:

• Describe the requirement for emergency services in an acute hospital to be integrated into other services
• Recall the newly implemented requirements for emergency obstetrical care
• Recall the required14 emergency department written policies that must be present in a Critical Access Hospital
• Recall that hospitals must also comply with EMTALA requirements in addition to emergency services requirements

Who Should Attend?
CEOs, Chief Nursing Officers, Emergency department directors, Accreditation and regulation directors, Nurse managers/supervisors, Quality managers, Risk managers, Nurses, Nurse educators, Patient safety officers

Continuing Education: The Kentucky Hospital Association is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the Kentucky Board of Nursing (KBN). KBN approval of a continuing nursing education provider does not constitute endorsement of program content. This educational activity is offered for 1.2 contact hours, with offering number      5-0023-12-25-053, expiration date 12-31-2025. No partial credit will be given. To receive credit, participants must attend the entire educational offering, provide their nursing license number, and complete the offering evaluation. After the conclusion of this webinar, a Survey Monkey evaluation link will be sent to attendees. Attendees will have a deadline of 10/30/2025 to complete the survey in order to receive the CEU certificate. Failure to complete any step in the process outlined above will result in non-issuance of CEU credit in accordance with KBN guidelines.