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 ACEP has also partnered with the Society of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (AMDA) to draft guidance on asymptomatic hypertension in nursing home residents and planning documents for emergency department (ED) nursing home telehealth.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.

International Emergency Medicine

• Co-hosted a Virtual Ambassador Conference in February with the International EM Section
• Reviewing an ACEP policy about “International Development & Promotion of Emergency Medicine”
• Working to increase international attendance at ACEP24
• Working with international societies to support their efforts to build EM as a specialty around the world
• Volunteers are attending several international conferences to build goodwill and promote the ACEP brand (including ICEM24 in Taiwan, EUSEM Congress 2024 in Copenhagen, ESEM24 in Dubai and ACEM in Botswana)

Membership Committee

• Working on possible new membership models for the ACEP Board of Directors to consider, including options for attendings in the first few years post-residency.
• Helping to educate section leaders on their responsibilities and how to increase engagement.
• Developing new ways to recognize leaders for their tenure and volunteer contributions.

Pediatric Emergency Medicine

The Committee works on objectives and topics related to pediatric emergency medicine and the care of pediatric patients. They ensure ACEP is involved and represented in national efforts to improve the emergency care of children. Some of the topics and objectives they are currently working on include:

• Participation and support in the National Pediatric Readiness Project and the national Pediatric Readiness Guideline.
• Development of information papers on multiple topics such as opioid use disorder, acute overdose, agitation, and suicidal ideation.

Public Health Committee

This Committee works to examine and analyze the role of emergency medicine in public health and to make recommendations to the ACEP Board of Directors in such areas as health promotion, prevention and management of infectious diseases, and the prevention and control of violence and injuries.

Committee members are working on a diverse array of objectives, including:

• Creation of several policy statements related to firearms, reproductive health services and climate change.
• Development of resources including information papers and smart phrases.

Reimbursement

This Committee’s purpose is to identify and analyze the governmental reimbursement environment as it pertains to emergency medicine and assist in positioning the College appropriately on issues of importance.

Recent activity includes:

• Identify and analyze reimbursement challenges that impact emergency medicine and recommend strategic solutions by monitoring government and commercial payer claims activity including ongoing implementation of the No Surprises Act.
• Continue to represent ACEP interests at the AMA RBRVS Update Committee (RUC) to ensure our services are appropriately valued.
• Ongoing development of educational materials such as articles, webinars, and frequently asked questions (FAQs) to provide members with practical information on developing reimbursement trends. Develop specific content for residents and young physicians. Read more at acep.org/reimbursement.
• Develop a strategy for emergency medicine to be represented in alternate payment models, including episodes and population health, to prepare for the transition from fee-for-service reimbursement to value-based reimbursement. Look for a breakout session at LAC!
• Monitor Medicaid reforms at the state level and provide resources as appropriate. Monitor the impact of reimbursement changes in rural areas.

State Legislative and Regulatory Committee

• Examining the concerns our members have interacting with law enforcement in the emergency department and how ACEP can work together with policing organizations to find solutions.
• Identifying ways in which emergency physicians are put in harm’s way and how emergency physicians can work more safely and effectively to stem violence and provide a safer environment for our members to work.

Well-Being

The primary focus of the Well-Being Committee, which often works closely with ACEP’s Wellness Section, is to address the tough issues that hinder wellness and career satisfaction for emergency physicians, using evidence-based tactics to solve these challenges and support well workplaces.

Examples this year include:

• Published ACEP’s new wellness guidebook, “From Self to System—Being Well in Emergency Medicine,” which offers in-depth solutions to many systemic issues plaguing emergency physicians.
• Hosted a series of “Reinvigorating Emergency Medicine” webinars, funded in part by a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These on-demand courses feature experts who discuss systemic transformation toward workplace well-being, burnout and compassion fatigue, second victim syndrome, and narrative medicine.
• Solicit nominations and recommend a recipient for the Emergency Medicine Wellness Center of Excellence Award, which recognizes an emergency medicine group, department, or clinical site that incorporates wellness and resilience on an institutional level.