The Emergency Medicine Action Fund Board is scheduled to meet this month, the first meeting of the grassroots group working to stop the potential threat to the independent practice of emergency medicine.

Members of the EM Action Fund Board of Governors will meet July 14 in Washington, D.C., and begin to discuss the plan of action for its anticipated activities. The meeting is open to anyone who would like to attend.

In February 2011, the American College of Emergency Physicians launched the EM Action Fund to allow our specialty to speak with one voice and one message, delivered by one team of physician leaders, consultants, lobbyists, attorneys, and staffers. The EM Action Fund is a collective body that can pool limited resources and become a compelling force that can impact the emergency medicine practice environment through regulatory change.

In an effort to set a launch date and begin the difficult work of the Action Fund, Chairman Dr. Wes Fields, along with ACEP leadership, announced that the Action Fund’s Board of Governors will be determined as of July 1.

According to Operating Guidelines approved by ACEP at its June 15 Board meeting, the fiscal year of the EM Action Fund will be July 1 to June 30, with an annual meeting that takes place in conjunction with ACEP’s Scientific Assembly.

The initial Board of Governors will include one representative each from ACEP, American Academy of Emergency Medicine, Association of Academic Chairs of Emergency Medicine, American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, Emergency Department Practice Management Association, Emergency Medicine Residents Association, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, and each of the top 10 contributors. It will also include the chair of ACEP’s Federal Government Affairs Committee, who will not be able to vote.

Additional contributions will be accepted throughout the year, and the Board of Governors can expand.

In addition to the numerous emergency physician groups, individuals, and corporations who have contributed to the EM Action Fund, several coalitions have formed. These coalitions of small- to mid-sized physician groups, along with some individual contributions, are pooling their resources to have a greater impact in the EM Action Fund.