Federal charge against hospital unsubstantiated
By PETER BOLTZ
Express Staff Writer
St. Luke’s received good news last week from the Health
Care Financing Administration (HCFA), an agency of the federal Department
of Health and Human Services.
In a letter dated March 5, the HCFA told hospital
administrator Jon Moses that a complaint of refusing treatment to an
emergency room patient on Nov. 21 was "unsubstantiated."
Refusing such treatment is a violation of the federal Social Security Act.
The Nov. 21 event was investigated by the Idaho Department
of Health and Welfare after it received a complaint from the 14-year-old
patient’s mother. She stated that the hospital had refused to provide
psychiatric treatment for her daughter, who was in a suicidal state.
According to the ER report, a doctor conducted a physical
exam on the patient. However, since a psychiatric examination is outside
the capability of St. Luke’s emergency department, the ER doctor called
the patient’s pediatrician. The report said the pediatrician recommended
that the patient go to a psychiatric facility.
According to the report, the ER doctor advised that the
girl be taken to one of the psychiatric facilities in Boise, Twin Falls or
Blackfoot, but the patient and mother refused.
According to the complaint, the mother said she didn’t
recall being given any options by the ER doctor for treating her daughter.
Federal law requires that a hospital provide "an
appropriate medical screening examination within the capability of the
hospital’s emergency department."
According to the ER report, the mother called from the
hospital to her daughter’s psychiatrist, who recommended the patient be
sent to the psychiatric facility in Blackfoot. The mother refused this
recommendation also.
The investigation by Health and Welfare found that the
patient was then discharged with the mother at the mother’s wishes.
The letter from HCFA, although absolving the hospital of
any wrongdoing, did include a caution: "It does not appear that the
hospital has policies specifically directed at handling psychiatric
emergencies."
Moses said on Monday the hospital had remedied the
deficiency and now has such a policy in place.
HCFA is the federal agency that finances, runs and
oversees the Medicare and Medicaid programs and the hospitals that
participate in them.