Back to Events
Webinars

EMTALA Overview and Q&A with CMS

Tuesday, January 6, 2026
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (CST)

Join Us Virtually

Event Details

Overview: CMS EMTALA physician lead and Regional Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sean Michael, will provide an overview of EMTALA regulatory requirements, current enforcement data and trends, and common clinical and policy issues. There will be ample time for audience Q&A and interactive dialogue. By the end of the presentation, participants will be better able to:

  • Summarize the basic EMTALA requirements and distinguish between common colloquial understandings of EMTALA versus CMS regulatory interpretations
  • Recognize some common pitfalls, frequently asked questions, and best practices in EMTALA compliance and enforcement
  • Utilize CMS interpretive guidance and other resources to improve EMTALA education

Target Audience: Hospitals

CE: certificate of attendance
Presenter: Dr. Sean Michael, Regional Chief Medical Officer, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Sean Michael is an actively practicing emergency physician with dual-board certification in clinical informatics. He serves as Regional Chief Medical Officer in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Denver location, focusing on cross-cutting implementation of CMS programs and policy. He is the agency’s clinical lead for the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) and helps lead CMS agency-wide work on emergency and acute care, including emergency department boarding and crowding, emergency medical services (EMS), acute behavioral health care, emergency care of older adults, and national security topics. As a senior medical advisor for CMS programs, he also provides clinical expertise around payment, policy, quality improvement, survey and enforcement operations, contracted health plans, preparedness, artificial intelligence, and data analytics. He serves as the agency’s principal liaison with the clinical community across the Mountain West. Dr. Michael was previously the emergency department director of a large academic ED and continues to practice clinically and serve on the faculty of the University of Colorado School of Medicine.