John G. Wiegenstein Leadership Award

Jay A. Kaplan, MD, FACEP

Dr. Kaplan is medical director of care transformation and director of the Be Well Center for LCMC Health in New Orleans. He is clinical associate professor of medicine at LSU Health Sciences Center and an attending physician and academic faculty for the LSU emergency medicine residency at University Medical Center New Orleans.

Dr. Kaplan is a past President of ACEP and current national faculty for ACEP, as well as a member of the National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, he was named ACEP’s Outstanding Speaker of the Year in 2003. Other honors include the Studer Group Physician Fire Starter Award, Grace Humanitarian Award of the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine, and a Letter of Commendation from ACEP in September 2018.

Dr. Kaplan served as chair of the department of emergency medicine and medical staff officer including chief of staff at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey. 

James D. Mills Outstanding Contribution to Emergency Medicine Award

James J. Augustine, MD, FACEP

Dr. Augustine is an emergency physician and clinical professor in the department of emergency medicine at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He is chair emeritus of the National Clinical Governance Board of US Acute Care Solutions.

He served two terms on the ACEP Board of Directors and is on the ACEP Epidemic Expert Panel. He is chair of the task force planning for the future of ACEP’s Clinical Emergency Data Registry. He was chair for The Joint Commission Hospital Professional and Technical Advisory Committee and on the Board of Commissioners. He is Vice President of the Emergency Department Benchmarking Alliance.

He began his career in EMS when in medical school in Dayton. After serving as president of the regional Fire EMS Council, he became the first chair of the Ohio EMS Board. He moved to Atlanta in 2001 and served as medical director for Atlanta Fire Rescue. He later served as assistant fire chief and medical director for the District of Columbia Fire EMS Department. Dr. Augustine is currently medical director for several fire rescue agencies.

John A. Rupke Legacy Award

Jeffrey D. Bettinger, MD, FACEP

A graduate of Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia, Dr. Bettinger completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Miami. He is board-certified in both internal medicine and emergency medicine.

Upon completing his residency, Dr. Bettinger served as a staff physician and, later, as emergency department medical director for the Emergency Medical Group of Miami (EMG). In the mid-1980s, he built a billing and accounts receivable management system for EMG. In 1997, Dr. Bettinger assumed the role of executive vice president of billing and reimbursement for TeamHealth. 

In 2000, Dr. Bettinger and Dr. John Stimler founded the consulting company Bettinger, Stimler & Associates, LLC (BSA Healthcare).

A 30-year member and former chair of the ACEP Reimbursement Committee, Dr. Bettinger also served as chair of the Florida College of Emergency Physicians’ Medical Economics Committee. He co-chaired ACEP’s Alternative Payment Model Task Force and is the former chair of the ACEP/EDPMA Joint Task Force’s Out-of-Network/Balance Billing Workgroup.