We developed chapter toolkits with op-eds and talking points, PR support for the launch and monitoring of campaign efforts. We funded two public opinion polls that confirmed not only do the vast majority of adults most trust a physician to lead their medical care, but many patients would be concerned if a physician was unavailable during their medical emergency.

ACEP joined the AMA’s Scope of Practice Partnership to stand with the House of Medicine. We invested in staff support, including multiple communications and legislative staff members to manage these initiatives. We have fought at the state levels to block bills that would expand the scope of non-physicians and have supported policies that prioritize emergency physician-led teams in the ED and establish common sense principles for model state legislation.

Learn more at acep.org/scopeofpractice.

ACEP is Currently Involved in Nine Lawsuits to Protect Your Autonomy and Reimbursement

In 2022-2023, ACEP’s legal advocacy increased by 400 percent. We participated in 12 lawsuits and filed nine amicus briefs in courts from California and Idaho to Illinois, New Jersey and Texas.

Four amicus briefs were filed in cases vital to protecting physician autonomy, three related to post-Dobbs decisions and one was filed as part of AAEM’s suit against Envision. Two briefs lent support to protecting the scientific integrity of medical journals and medical societies publishing treatment guidelines, respectively. ACEP also filed suit against the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury to address concerns about the implementation of the new surprise billing law, a case years in the making, where ACEP offered EM-specific improvements to every phase of the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process. When the original suit was dismissed, we pivoted and filed four amicus briefs in the resulting cases heard in Texas.

Less than 1% of ACEP’s Total Revenue Comes from Private Equity Staffing Groups

In total, revenue from private equity-funded staffing groups for advertising, sponsorship and exhibits is less than 1 percent of our total organizational revenue, despite claims to the contrary.

In response to member requests, ACEP conducted a thorough legal review and analysis of the risk if the organization were to prohibit all advertisements or exhibits from certain companies that refuse to disclose their business practices. Internal and external legal counsel confirmed an anti-trust risk to ACEP because the groups in question are made up of our members. This may not be the case for every EM association but based on ACEP’s size and membership, the legal risk was concerning.