The Transitions of Care Task Force also developed an information paper that was submitted to the ACEP Board of Directors in draft form on Oct. 5. When it is finalized, it will be announced to ACEP members and posted on ACEP’s website.

The Task Force paper notes that “The emergency department has an important, in fact pivotal, role in transitions of care and can enhance its value to the system by implementing more successful transition programs. As the emphasis and oversight of quality and cost increase, successful coordination of patients’ journeys through the health care system will help advance the triple aim of better population health, better patient experiences, and reduced cost to the system.“

To achieve this goal, the Transitions of Care Task Force made several recommendations, including:

• Improve residency training and continuing professional development for emergency physicians on the importance of handoffs in effective transitions of care.
• Work with emergency department information system vendors to produce transition support tools.
• Identify strategies that make handoffs successful, and use them to establish goals for emergency departments
• Develop a web-based toolkit that includes resources, assessment and support tools, and best practices.
• Develop education resources on palliative care in the emergency department to enhance knowledge and increase the number of emergency department-based palliative care programs.
• And more.

ACEP has a strong focus on these issues of improving patient care and providing cost savings. To that end, multiple recommendations continue to be developed and adopted by the College. ACEP is dedicated to ensuring that our specialty brings ideas that truly will improve care for the millions of patients we treat and provide real, substantial savings to the nation’s health care expenses.