This practice of denying coverage based upon anything other than the patient’s perception of a medical emergency would be dangerous for patients and devastating to the practice of emergency medicine. ACEP is working with a number of external stakeholder groups, including Consumers for Quality Care, the Emergency Department Practice Management Association, and the AMA to mount a response to this latest threat. After 25 years of tireless work to protect our patients and our practice, we cannot allow insurers or regulators to undo the critical protections granted by the prudent layperson standard. These latest attacks should once again serve as a rallying point for the entire house of medicine to fight to make sure that the federal and state laws are enforced to keep our patients and the specialty of emergency medicine safe.
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ACEP Now: Vol 36 – No 09 – September 2017Pages: 1 2 3 | Single Page
2 Responses to “Prudent Layperson Standard in Emergency Medicine Under Attack”
October 8, 2017
Keith WinkleSo are insurance companies saying that the vast majority of voters are not prudent?
October 14, 2017
Tired EDocWe know that the vast majority of Emergency Department patients are not prudent, which is why they end up there in the first place. This will be a difficult issue to find balance without requiring some level of personal responsibility on the part of patients.