Emergency physicians have long taken pride in delivering care every day of the week, every hour of the day. ACEP’s Emergency Department Accreditation program adds a layer to that, says Marianne Gausche-Hill, MD, FACEP, FAAP, FAEM, Chair of the program’s Board of Governors.

“High quality care for anyone, any age, any condition—that’s what this program will work to ensure,” says Dr. Gausche-Hill, an emergency physician and Interim CEO of the Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. “We understand there are large community hospitals, academic centers and rural hospitals with vastly different resources and needs. However, when a patient walks through the door, they want to know there are resources available for that ED to delivery high quality care.”

ACEP’s ED Accreditation Program (EDAP) is the next step in ACEP’s robust suite of Accreditation programs.

ACEP’s Clinical Ultrasound Accreditation Program (CUAP) strives for continuous quality management and patient safety, communication, responsibility, and clarity regarding the use of clinical ultrasound. Accreditation ensures that safe, quality examinations are performed in any ED that utilizes clinical, point-of-care ultrasound.

ACEP’s Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation Program (GEDA) promotes the best clinical practices for older adults. In August, GEDA’s work was validated when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services introduced an Age-Friendly Hospital Measure as part of the fiscal year 2025 Inpatient Prospective Payment System rule. This measure incorporates important aspects of the GEDA framework into care delivery.

Finally, ACEP’s Pain and Addiction Care in the ED Program (PACED) works to accelerate the transfer of knowledge about acute pain management and secure appropriate resources to care for patients. A June CDC report found that, although medications for opioid use disorder substantially reduce mortality, they are underused. In 2022, only 25 percent of the patients needing OUD treatment received it, according to the report.

Dr. Gausche-Hill says the success of these programs sends a clear message that rigorous and adaptive quality standards are paramount, and therefore, EDAP is a logical next step in ACEP’s pursuit of enhanced patient care, transparency and support for frontline workers. Because overall accreditation is so broad, however, she says the work it takes to launch such a program is nothing short of enormous.