The 2013 ACEP Leadership and Advocacy Conference wrapped up in May after 324 congressional meetings, hours of excellent educational sessions on leadership and advocacy topics, and a celebration of achievements in reporting and media relations on behalf of emergency medicine.

A significant objective of the conference is to equip emergency physicians with the specific skills and techniques to provide leadership at the national and chapter level. Approximately 14 hours of leadership training were included in the conference, focused on media training, presentation training, negotiation and conflict management, and effective governance practices. Nearly a third of the conference attendees were residents or young physicians, so the investment in their professional and leadership development will pay dividends for patients and the specialty for decades to come.

Visits to Capitol Hill highlighted the four-day conference, which drew a record 561 registrants.

ACEP members from 46 states and the District of Columbia participated in meetings in Capitol Hill offices with legislators and their health care staffs. Ninety percent of the Senate offices were visited, while more than half of House of Representatives offices welcomed emergency medicine physicians and residents. In addition to Hill staff, 158 Members of Congress participated.

Members arrived with a specific agenda, to gain support for three bills that would help emergency physicians improve patient care. ACEP President Dr. Andrew E. Sama said this year’s conference reached its goal of mixing education, networking and advocacy for the specialty.

“Our Leadership and Advocacy Conference has continued to add exceptional value for our members and advance policies that support the provision of quality emergency care for all our patients,” he said. “The forward thinking content and presentation of cutting edge subject matter provided an excellent update on the rapidly changing health care environment in America. Our member attendees, staff and consultants did an excellent job of relaying our concerns and promoting legislation to improve our practice environment and patient access to emergency medical care.”

Hill visits provided the opportunity for ACEP members to discuss the findings of the RAND report, “The Evolving Role of Emergency Departments in the United States,” released on May 20. The research described in the report was performed to develop a more complete picture of how hospital emergency departments contribute to the U.S. health care system.

It explores the evolving role that emergency departments and personnel who staff them play in evaluating and managing complex and high-acuity patients, acting as the key decision makers for roughly half of all inpatient hospital admissions, and serving as “the safety net of the safety net” for patients who cannot get care elsewhere. The report also examines the role that emergency departments may play in contributing to or helping to control the rising costs of health care.

ACEP also launched the “Saving Millions” campaign to promote some of the RAND report’s key messages, including the role of emergency physicians in saving health care costs incurred through hospital admissions. The campaign featured ads published in Roll Call, Politico, CQ Weekly, and The Hill, and a YouTube video. Additional issues discussed included GME funding and creating a stable payment system for Medicare physician reimbursement.

The three bills that legislators were asked to co-sponsor are:

H.R. 36/S.961: “Health Care Safety Net Enhancement Act of 2013,” introduced by Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) in the House and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) in the Senate. The bill provides medical liability relief for physicians providing care under the EMTALA mandate;

H.R. 351/S.351: “Protecting Seniors’ Access to Medicare Act of 2013,” introduced by Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN) in the House and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in the Senate. The bill would repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) created under the Affordable Care Act;

H.R.1179/S.569: “Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2013,” introduced by Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) in the House and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in the Senate. The bill amends the Social Security Act to count a period of receipt of outpatient observation services in a hospital toward the three-day inpatient hospital requirement for coverage of skilled nursing facility (SNF) services under Medicare.

Other Highlights

Media Coverage: Reports about the RAND findings and the “Saving Millions” campaign included news stories in The New York Times, Health Leaders Media, and Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch. Radio stories aired in several major cities generated by a radio media tour with ACEP President-elect Dr. Alex Rosenau and Dr. Stephen Epstein. In addition, Drs. Jay Kaplan, Bob O’Connor, Wes Fields and Epstein met with reporters of Bloomberg News, The Los Angeles Times, and National Journal to discuss the RAND results.

Awards: Dr. Stephen Anderson, an emergency physician from Seattle, was named 2013 Spokesperson of the Year, and Dr. Epstein from Boston received the 2013 Communications Lifetime Achievement Award. Also recognized were Monica Navarro and Izidio Contreras of Univision. They received the 2013 Award of Excellence in Journalism. The 2013 Special Recognition of Excellence in Journalism went to Anna Matthews of The Wall Street Journal. The awards luncheon featured ACEP member Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA), who was elected in 2012. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), an OB-GYN, discussed the importance of physician advocacy during an advocacy training session to prepare the participants for the Capitol Hill Visits. In a luncheon before the visits, Dr. Andrew Bern received the 911 Network Member of the Year award. Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), a family physician, gave the luncheon address.

Record Donations: NEMPAC raised a record $86,000 in conjunction with the LAC meeting for the NEMPAC annual campaign. Dr. Sama recognized outstanding contributions from the partners at Florida Emergency Physicians ($40,000) and Maryland Emergency Physicians ($32,000) and the efforts of EMP, CEP and TeamHealth’s ongoing payroll deduction donation program for NEMPAC donations. During the conference, NEMPAC and EMP PAC co-hosted a fundraising reception for Rep. Ruiz, which raised nearly $20,000 for his re-election campaign in 2014.