The ACEP leadership team work tirelessly to improve the field of emergency medicine. Here’s a selection of what they’ve done recently to ensure that emergency physicians have what they need so that emergency patients get what they need. Read the full leadership reports.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the most current version of its proposed ED Patient Experience of Care (EDPEC) survey for feasibility testing. ACEP shared strong concerns with CMS on initial versions of EDPEC. Due to these efforts, the questions regarding pain have been changed to be much more appropriate to how care is delivered in the emergency department. CMS is testing this new version, and ACEP will monitor these efforts and provide feedback.

President-Elect Paul Kivela, MD, MBA, FACEP; members John Proctor, MD, MBA, FACEP, and Les Zun, MD, FACEP (representing the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry); and ACEP staff sat on The Joint Commission’s Technical Expert Panel on universal suicide screening in the emergency department. There was support for continuation of The Joint Commission standard that limits mandatory screening in the emergency department to those patients who present with mental health problems. There is significant progress being made to develop more reliable screening tools, and it’s known that screening alone does not reduce suicide rates. There was support for an increase in mental health resources 24-7 and evidence-based treatment alternatives to hospitalization.

On Sept. 29, President Rebecca Parker, MD, FACEP, Dr. Kivela, and Immediate Past President Jay Kaplan, MD, FACEP, along with ACEP’s senior management team, met with senior staff of the American Hospital Association (AHA). ACEP and AHA have agreed to work together to address workplace violence, patient flow and boarding, the opioid crisis, EMTALA, and protection of the prudent layperson standard. Other areas in which ACEP and AHA will work together include physician resilience and well-being, geriatrics, quality measures, and the future of the emergency department.

ACEP participated in an American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) summit meeting to discuss modifications and alternatives to the ABEM ConCert Examination. Vice President William Jaquis, MD, FACEP, attended and reviewed the role of the exam in maintaining a credential that would best serve the interests of both the public and emergency physicians. ABEM anticipates announcing specific examination options and a timeline for implementation in spring 2018.