EMTALA reg eases overall burden, but on-call physician issues still unclear.

The government's final Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) rule clarifies and simplifies many issues that have frustrated ED managers, but there still are significant areas of concern. The rule clearly defines what facilities are covered by EMTALA, essentially restricting it to only true emergency departments. ED staff are not expected to render aid beyond hospital property. Physicians and hospitals have more flexibility in devising specialist on-call schedules. EDs may encounter more difficulty finding specialists, and those with physicians on call may be flooded with transfers.