FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 14, 2006
CONTACT: Kay Whalen, AAEM Executive Director
PHONE: (800) 884-2236; kwhalen@aaem.org

AAEM calls for emergency department funding, action against fee-splitting 

MILWAUKEE – Additional funding for hospitals that care for the under- or uninsured along with increased scrutiny over the practice of fee-splitting are needed to improve the health of the nation's emergency departments, according to the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM).

The AAEM is calling for those changes in response to today's report, "The Future of Emergency Care in the United States Health System," released by the independent Institute of Medicine (IOM). Findings show the demand for emergency care is rising, even as the capacity of hospitals, ambulance services and other emergency workers to provide it is falling.

That rising capacity is in part due to the growing number of uninsured or grossly under-insured (Medicaid recipients) in the United States who receive much of their medical care in the emergency department. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) combats the discriminatory practice of some hospitals transferring, discharging, or refusing to treat indigent patients coming to the emergency department. Fulfilling this mandate has led to some emergency departments going out of business or physicians not receiving compensation for treating these patients.

Those are several of the reasons why the AAEM supports the IOM's recommendation that Congress appropriate funds for hospitals that provide large amounts of under, or uncompensated emergency and trauma care.

"We can no longer breathe with such a tight financial stranglehold," said Tom Scaletta, MD, FAAEM, current President of AAEM.

While additional Congressional funding for emergency departments is necessary in order to provide optimal patient care, the AAEM is also calling upon Congress to scrutinize and take action against the practice of illegal fee-splitting. Fee-splitting is a common practice in emergency medicine in which the contract owner or management company takes an excessive portion of the physician-generated fees for management expenses and overhead, well beyond fair market value.

If fee-splitting were eliminated from the cycle of patient care in the emergency department, all resources could be focused on care delivery. That would lead to more resources to go toward additional physician staffing, at essentially no additional cost to the general public, Scaletta said. “We are seeking relief in the form of funds to subsidize the EMTALA mandate and in the government's help with eliminating the third-party profiteering that is running rampant in our field.”

About the AAEM
The American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) is the specialty society of emergency medicine representing more than 5,000 members. Fellows of AAEM are certified by either the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) or the American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine (AOBEM). AAEM supports fair and equitable practice environments necessary to allow the specialist in emergency medicine to deliver the highest quality of patient care. Visit www.aaem.org for more information.