Boarding, perhaps one of the biggest threats to our patients and our own burnout, is a major focus of ACEP. ACEP has done a lot to try to ‘fix’ boarding, but little has happened, and the pandemic, with the staff shortages that followed, has made a horrible situation ever worse. It is clear that movement on the boarding issue will require state and national changes to reimbursement and regulation. ACEP efforts included:

• A letter to the President of the United States, asking for a national summit.
• A task force, comprised of individuals with a thorough understanding of EM and government.
• Based on their discussions, a summit was held in DC involving many govermental agencies.
• AHRQ then took the issue of boarding as a patient safety issue as a topic for one of their systematic reviews.
• Finally, HHS has asked AHRQ to convene a national summit on boarding. https://www.acep.org/news/acep-newsroom-articles/green-light-for-acep-ledrequest-to-form-national-boarding-task-force

ACEP has passed a lot of policies focused on our workplace and on the practice of EM. Now we are putting those policies into action. In the next few months, ACEP will launch an ED Accredidation Program, based on ACEP policies, where hospitals that meet our standards can receive recognition https://www.acep.org/edap. This should help the public determine which ED to visit, as well as help with the recruitment/retention of employees. There are 3 levels based upon staffing, with level 1 requiring direct oversight of all NPs/PAs by a board-certified emergency physician. There are some options for Critical Access and Rural Emergency Hospitals.

In addition to the ED Accredidation Program, there will be a similar distinction, a Blue Ribbon, for employers who abide by all of ACEP policies, such as billing transparency, due process, etc.

This will hopefully encourage employers to create a better workspace and provide visible information for job-seeking physicians.

Along those same lines, ACEP is providing transparency through Open Book https://www.openbook.acep.org. This is a summary of EDs in the US, with information on which group staffs the site, ED volume and a list of the ACEP policies that are followed by that employer (self-assessed). This is tied to Ivy Clinicians which offers a job board.

Finally, there are a lot of meetings:

• First is this March, ACEP Accelerate. We are trying something new by gathering several different smaller meetings into the same venue. This helps with room rates as well as increasing marketing. https://www.acep.org/accelerate
• Leadership and Advocacy is early this year in April. https://www.acep.org/lac This is our time to talk with our legislators and let them know what is happening in our EDs and what will help our patients.
• And of course, ACEP 24 in Las Vegas! https://www.acep.org/sa. There are a number of new features this year. First Research Forum (abstracts are open now and due in April) will be close to the exhibit hall, so you can browse the abstracts more easily https://www.acep.org/education/meetings/research. We have created more focused advanced classes, along with the traditional review courses. There are more meet ups and small group areas, designed to focus conversation and increase networking. And of course it is Vegas!