CMS onsite investigations often go for the “sure things” when the primary reason they visited turns out not to be a violation. In this case, it was the easiest violation to avoid, but one of the most common compliance efforts that gets overlooked – EMTALA signs.
Based on observations of 4 areas in the emergency department, this hospital was cited because they lacked appropriate signage in the reception area, triage area, trauma rooms and exam rooms. Another typical area for citations for lacking signs is the ambulance entrance. Other areas that often lack signs are the OB rooms if used for MSE and OB waiting area.
Many of the violations occur when the areas are repainted and signs are removed for painters, but are not put back up.
Signs need to be visible from the patient’s perspective and easily readable, which for waiting areas means that the average person must be able to read the sign from 20 feet away. If the waiting area is large or has obstacles to viewing the sign from certain seats, CMS typically expects multiple signs so that every seat has a view of a sign. Signs in treatment rooms must be readable from the patient’s perspective, which typically means they can be smaller than the waiting room signs.
C2402-WI-2013-9-24