Required Notice And Disclosures Freestanding ERs

The bill requires a freestanding emergency room that provides emergency services in a facility, charges a facility fee, and is not attached to a hospital to post notices throughout the facility indicating that the facility is an emergency room that provides emergency services to treat emergency medical conditions. Additionally, a freestanding emergency room, after performing an initial medical examination, must inform a patient who is determined not to have an emergency medical condition of, and provide to the patient a written statement containing, the following information:

• That the freestanding emergency room charges rates comparable to those charged by a hospital emergency room, including a facility fee of a specified amount;
• That the freestanding emergency room or a physician providing medical care at the center may not be a participating provider under the patient's health benefit plan;
• That the physician providing medical care at the freestanding emergency room may bill the patient separately from the center; and
• That for nonemergency medical conditions, the patient may wish to confer with his or her primary care physician or other primary care provider.

The freestanding emergency room must explain the contents of the written statement to the patient, obtain the patient's signature on the document, provide the patient with a copy of the signed document, and maintain the signed document in the patient's medical record.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that were subsequently adopted.)