ACEP continued to be a media presence. ACEP continued to engage the media fully, with resultant coverage in most major print, online, and social network outlets. Major coverage by The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, CNN, and MSNBC addressed H1N1, health care reform, the role of EM in disaster response, and various aspects of medical care. I had letters to the editor published in The Wall Street Journal (health care reform), The New York Times (emergency department closures), and Politico (health care reform). In a high-profile exchange, Bill O’Reilly used information from ACEP’s press conference on emergency department visits in Massachusetts to question Mitt Romney.

ACEP doubled attendance and offerings of some of the most popular educational courses. The Advanced EM Pediatrics Assembly had 604 attendees this Spring in New York City, double the anticipated number. As a result of demand, ACEP conducted two EMBRS courses and two Teaching Fellowship courses since last fall.

ACEP set attendance records at the 2010 Leadership and Advocacy Conference. ACEP’s 2010 Leadership and Advocacy Conference had record-setting attendance this year, and ACEP members from 41 states and the District of Columbia participated in 294 meetings in Capitol Hill offices with legislators and/or their health care staff. Eighty-four percent of the Senate offices were visited while nearly half of the House of Representatives’ offices were visited.

Annals of Emergency Medicine gained a record impact factor. Annals of Emergency Medicine continued to be the number one peer-reviewed scientific journal in emergency medicine, with an impact factor of 3.755. Impact factor is based on the amount of published research cited by other journals, and is regarded as a key measure of journal quality.

ACEP redesigned EM Career ­Central. Additional search capabilities, CV building advice, interview skill resources, and networking opportunities added strength to the online job bank maintained at EM Career Central on the ACEP website.

ACEP hosted an AHRQ grant conference. ACEP hosted an AHRQ grant conference, “Improving the Quality and Efficiency of Emergency Care across the Continuum: A Systems Approach.” The conference brought together government, IT, healthcare, research, and policy experts to develop research priorities for improving the quality and efficiency of our health care system.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but serves to illustrate that behind the scenes and beyond the headlines, ACEP has been working diligently to serve the members. Whether advocating on your patients’ behalf to governmental entities or enhancing your membership benefits to make your practice a little easier, you can count on ACEP to pay attention to the issues that matter and to continue advancing emergency care.