Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
4. Is the organization familiar with the plans of
all such authorities, and has it coordinated its
emergency planning with these authorities?
5. Do procedures exist to identify incoming
patients who may require decontamination
or isolation? Are staff members trained in
them, and is appropriate equipment available
to conduct such procedures? How is the safety
of staff ensured in the event that a patient
requires decontamination or isolation?
6. What plans exist for placing, observing, and
caring for individuals subject to isolation or
quarantine? Do local officials plan to utilize
hospitals or other private facilities for these
purposes in an emergency?
7. What legal procedures are required to imple-
ment isolation or quarantine of individuals or
groups?
8. If a patient is admitted to a hospital, how
will isolation and quarantine orders be deliv-
ered to the patient during her stay? What
constitutes valid orders for isolation or
quarantine? Does the organization have a
system for receiving and recording any such
orders?
9. Is the organization at risk if it implements an
isolation or quarantine order issued without a
court hearing?
10. Are a court hearing and court order required
for the imposition of isolation or quarantine
measures? Is an order that is issued without
a hearing valid?
11. If a hearing is necessary for a hospital patient
who is subject to an isolation or quarantine
order, how will the hearing be conducted?
12. Can local, regional, or state agencies provide
either legal indemnification or an opinion of
counsel regarding the liability of healthcare
providers for cooperating with isolation or
quarantine orders?
13. How will facilities be compensated for their
additional expenses incurred and revenue lost
if they are designated as isolation or quaran-
tine facilities? What documentation will be
required to make claims for expenses and lost
revenues relating to an isolation or quarantine
event?
14. Following an isolation or quarantine event,
what entity will compensate facilities for their
costs of recovery, and what will be the basis
for such compensation? What documentation
will be required to make claims for these costs
of recovery?
15. Who, if anyone, is financially responsible for
lost wages due to an order of quarantine or
isolation? Who is responsible for compen-
sating a healthcare worker who is sent home
by her employer following an exposure? In
what way does the answer to this question
change if the person is ordered into home
quarantine by public health authorities? How
does the answer change if the person experi-
enced exposure in a work environment, rather
than in a home environment or while trav-
eling abroad?
16. Is it possible for facilities to employ
workplace-quarantine measures? Can an
employee be quarantined at home outside of
working hours (i.e., permitted to leave the
home only to go to work)?
17. Who is financially responsible for the costs
of isolation or quarantine in a hospital that
occurs pursuant to a public health order?
What is the response going to be if a third-
party payor determines that care for a partic-
ular illness is not covered, or is no longer
medically necessary, and refuses to pay?
18. Who is responsible for enforcing isolation
and quarantine orders? (For example, if
a patient must be physically detained in
isolation, who will ensure the patient stays
there?)
B. Patient Diversion Issues
In an emergency, the normal flow of patients to
and among healthcare providers almost certainly
will be interrupted. See
Appendix A
for a discus-
sion of the applicability of the Emergency Medical
