JK: What brought us to this dance ain’t going to get us into the next one. Einstein said the best definition of madness is to do things the same way and expect different results. How do most of us approach change? Change is good; you go first. I think we have to go first, and so I think the role of emergency medicine will change. I think that retail clinics will have huge backing from venture capital. I think they and urgent care will continue to take the less-sick patients away. With the incidence of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, and people living longer, we’re going to have plenty of patients to see. Our practice is going to become more difficult because we’re going to see sicker patients.

As emergency physicians, we need to own telehealth and telemedicine. I think we are the best specialists to provide video and over-the-phone consultation with patients. I think we’re going to be utilizing advanced practice providers more and more because I think we’re going to have to leverage our expertise and leverage our time. It will be incumbent upon us to be careful in regard to our supervision of our advanced practice providers to ensure that our patients continue to get great care while, perhaps, expanding their scope. Health care is a team sport, so I think we’re going to need to learn more about managing complex systems and leading groups of people. I think we have a very bright future. Two F words: I think we need to be fascinated about the challenges that we face and fight for our patients.

Editor’s Note: Read more about Dr. Kaplan’s goals (ACEP login required).