My experience at LAC showed me that sometimes all it takes is one patient encounter, one resident experience, one unique opinion and one ear that is willing to listen, to make widespread change. One thing I will always remember from this conference, was the quote, “If you are not at the table, you are probably on the menu.”

Thank you, LAC. I will definitely be back for more.

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Dr. Ayorinde (@doc_mcbuckets) is a PGY-2 emergency medicine resident at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD.[/sidebar]

Tuesday’s programming provided attendees with an update on the key federal legislative and regulatory issues facing emergency medicine and prepped them for Capitol Hill meetings. As with every LAC, the College developed a set of priority issues and talking points for the Capitol Hill visits (emergencyphysicians.org/issues).

The issues that ACEP brings to Capitol Hill and our “asks” are directly geared toward active bills or other actions that we need members of Congress to support. Each of the meetings held with legislators or their staff help remind them that we share a common bond. The patients we care for back home in their district are their constituents, and together we have a shared responsibility to those people to ensure that there is a viable emergency care system.

This year, our visits focused on improving the ED environment and financial stability of emergency physician practice. We asked members of Congress to:

• Sign the bipartisan “Dear Colleague” letter urging the Biden Administration to convene an ED boarding task force.
• Cosponsor the “Improving Mental Health Access from the Emergency Department Act.”
• Cosponsor the “Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act” and the “SAVE Act.”
• Cosponsor the bipartisan “Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act,” which has been introduced by four physician members of Congress: Raul Ruiz, MD, Larry Buschon, MD, Ami Bera, MD, and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD. This bill would mandate an inflation-based increase in Medicare reimbursement for physicians every year.