• ACEP recently became a member of the American Medical Association (AMA) Scope of Practice Partnership (SOPP) and continues to attend regular meetings to leverage the house of medicine on ways to ensure physician-led teams nationwide as well as to utilize and promote shared resources among chapters.
• In early June, a proposal in Louisiana that would have allowed NPs to have independent practice was withdrawn with the help of the Louisiana ACEP chapter and its members. National ACEP is working to support other chapters facing similar threats of scope creep and other states, including Texas and Colorado, with an eye toward similar victories in those state legislatures.
• Alarmed by the implications of independent practice for PAs, ACEP vehemently opposed the decision by the American Academy of Physician Assistants to change its professional title to physician “associate.” ACEP issued a statement denouncing the name change and advocated that the AMA address this through its SOPP efforts, including its truth in advertising campaign.
• ACEP President Dr. Rosenberg established a task force to research and potentially establish an ED accreditation program that would define nationally recognized standards to provide the highest-quality patient care. Joseph Adrian Tyndall, MD, FACEP, was named the chair of this task force, which will meet regularly and, by ACEP21 in Boston, will offer a proposed direction about pursing an accreditation program.

Support Emergency Physicians in All Communities, Especially Rural

• ACEP leaders have met with CMS staff to problem-solve rural hospital closings and will continue to explore ways to ensure access to quality emergency care, led by emergency physicians, no matter a patient’s ZIP code.
• The Rural Emergency Medicine Task Force report closely aligns with efforts to influence change in the EM workforce of the future. ACEP leaders are working with the Rural EM Task Force members and the Rural EM Section members to ensure our next steps are coordinated.
• ACEP is compiling and will promote a list of current opportunities within the federal government, Indian Health Service, Veterans Affairs, and other locations that have incentives for hiring emergency physicians to practice in rural and underserved areas.
• To get better data-driven research, ACEP is helping to conduct a resident census about job availability and challenges year over year. This survey should be distributed within a few weeks and could become an annual effort to provide a sense of the hiring landscape over the long-term.

Increase Demand and Meet Evolving Needs of Our Communities

We recognize emergency physicians’ skill sets are not defined by a physical location. Emergency medicine will continue to evolve to meet the changing health care landscape and delivery models as we emphasize our value, expertise, and necessity.