ACEP Partners with VisualDx to Enhance Measles Diagnosis and Treatment

ACEP and VisualDx are working together to deliver a comprehensive tool for physicians to address the measles outbreak, look-alike diagnoses, and all emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. 

“We’re excited to support emergency physicians with a time-critical diagnostic information tool,” said Alison Haddock, MD, FACEP, president of ACEP. “This comes at a critical time and will help emergency physicians on the frontlines advance care delivery and protect public health by assisting in prompt, accurate diagnosis and helping slow the spread of this highly disease.”

Measles is one of the most contagious infectious diseases, and its delayed diagnosis can accelerate spread and worsen patient outcomes. At least a dozen states have reported more than 250 cases over the past few weeks. VisualDx’s clinical decision support software and medical image library can help clinicians quickly identify measles and its variant presentations across patient populations. This collaboration is geared toward reducing further spread.

“Emergency physicians save lives everyday – often while risking their own. It’s a privilege to support these unsung heroes as they confront yet another infectious disease challenge,” said Art Papier, MD, CEO of VisualDx. “In these difficult times, clinicians need rapid, reliable tools to support their decision-making in seconds. We are proud to contribute to that mission.”

With VisualDx, ACEP members will also receive educational training on measles to enhance public health preparedness. Beyond measles, VisualDx is equipped to improve clinical decision-making on more than 3,000 diagnoses thanks to its 48,000 medical images. Through this project, ACEP hopes to improve readiness not only for measles but for any emerging infectious diseases.

Emergency Physicians Welcome Additional Hospital Reporting Measures on Boarding

Emergency physician-led changes to the 2025 Leapfrog Hospital Survey are in effect and will push hospitals toward more transparent and actionable reporting on the boarding crisis.

Three new measures seek:

• The percentage of ED patients that are admitted to the hospital that had a boarding time in the ED of more than four hours (where lower percentages are desirable)
• The median length of stay in the ED for patients admitted to the hospital (where lower values are desirable)
• The 90th percentile length of stay in the ED for patients admitted to the hospital (where lower values are desirable)

Based on ACEP’s comments, additional changes include:

• To recognize the systemic nature of this crisis, Leapfrog will rename the subsection “Hospital Boarding in the Emergency Department (ED)” instead of “ED Boarding.”
• Leapfrog will include patients admitted to observation status, as well as those admitted to the hospital’s inpatient setting.
• Hospitals will be asked to separate adults from pediatric patients, and those admitted to inpatient psychiatric beds from non-psychiatric beds. The goal of the latter is to inform whether there could be opportunities to improve the approach to patients with behavioral health emergencies.

For now, these measures are optional and not publicly reported for 2025.