By serving on an ACEP committee, members can have a direct impact the work important to all emergency physicians. If you’re passionate about a topic or niche within the specialty, getting involved with committee work in that area allows you to join forces with other professionals to multiply your impact.

Any ACEP member, including resident members, can apply to be on a committee. This year, committee terms begin at ACEP24, Sept. 29–Oct. 2, in Las Vegas.

If you are interested in volunteering for a national committee, visit acep.org/committees for more information and to fill out the application. The deadline to apply is May 15.

What have some of the committees been up to this year?

Coding and Nomenclature Advisory

The purpose of this Committee is to identify and analyze Medicare, Medicaid, and private payer claims processing policies that deviate from current procedural terminology (CPT) principles and/or documentation guidelines and recommend strategic solutions.

Recent activity includes:

• Track payer issues such as denials, rates, appeals, and pay for performance.
• Track activity related to the 2023 CPT documentation guideline changes.
• Monitor the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC), and other audit activities, and react appropriately to issues affecting emergency medicine. Monitor changes in facility reimbursement.
• Represent ACEP interests at the AMA CPT Editorial Panel and WHO ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committees.
• Identify and develop educational materials such as articles, webinars, and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to provide members with up-to-date information that will facilitate an effective balance between optimal coding and compliance. Check out these resources at acep.org/reimbursement-faqs.

Clinical Policies

The Clinical Policies Committee currently has 12 clinical policies in development. ACEP has also partnered with the Society of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (AMDA) to draft guidance on asymptomatic hypertension in nursing home residents and planning documents for emergency department (ED) nursing home telehealth. A few recent highlights include:

• The clinical policy on the management of severe agitation was published in the January 2024 issue of the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
• A consensus guideline on the management of corneal abrasions, which involved several members of the Clinical Policies Committee, was posted online in the Annals of Emergency Medicine on Feb. 6, 2024.
• A revised clinical policy on seizures will be considered by the ACEP Board of Directors in April.

Clinical policies expected to be submitted to the ACEP Board of Directors by the end of 2024 include blunt trauma, asymptomatic hypertension, thrombolytics, carbon monoxide poisoning, and airway management.