AAEM Position Statement on Hospital Admission Inducements

The American Academy of Emergency Medicine discourages the practice of setting admission goals or admission rates for emergency department patients. The Academy further discourages inducements from hospitals or other interested parties meant to encourage or enforce these admission goals. Such inducements may include bonuses, penalties or linkage of admission rates to the rewarding or renewal of hospital contracts. The Academy believes the decision to admit a patient should be based solely on patient need. Unnecessary admission of patients exposes them to the well-documented risks associated with inpatient care and increases their out of pocket costs. Further, it may jeopardize a provider’s medical license or expose providers to accusations of fraud. Specifically, the Academy believes that simply entering into such an agreement involving admission goals may constitute potential false claims and a violation of state and federal anti-kickback statutes.

Approved: 7/12/10