To some emergency physicians, congressional hearings and political campaigns seem a world away from their everyday actions in the emergency department. But what happens in the political arena plays a much greater role in emergency medicine practice than many realize.

That’s why ACEP formed NEMPAC in 1980 – to ensure that emergency medicine interests are represented accurately to members of Congress, to promote ACEP’s legislative goals, and to help financially support the election or re-election of congressional candidates who share its commitment to emergency medicine. While only individual ACEP members can be solicited for NEMPAC contributions, ACEP realized in recent years that an increasing number of emergency physicians are part of emergency medicine groups.

“Because we can’t go directly to these groups and request PAC donations, we’ve been working with them on various ways they can facilitate donations from within their groups,” said Jeanne Slade, ACEP’s director, NEMPAC and Grassroots Advocacy. “The stronger our PAC, the more we can advocate for emergency medicine and the more legislators we will elect who truly understand our issues. In the end, that helps patients and physicians.”

CEP America, the largest democratic acute care partnership in the U.S., based in Emeryville, Calif., has practiced group-level giving for more than a decade, when it began setting aside 20 cents per emergency visit in a fund supporting both state and federal advocacy. Today, the organization presents NEMPAC with two $50,000 checks annually.

“We believe our relationship with government is just as important as our relationships with partners, our patients and with the communities we serve,” said Dr. Wesley Fields, chairman of the Emergency Medicine Action Fund, member of the NEMPAC Board of Trustees, and past chairman of the CEP America Board. “It’s crucial for emergency medical groups of all sizes and practice models to be engaged in the political process and in health policy development.”

Key to CEP America’s ability to donate consistently to NEMPAC is how its board approaches advocacy as part of its governance process. “The traditional method was to ask physicians individually for contributions, but the breakthrough was in understanding that it was much more efficient for the group to commit at a leadership level,” said Dr. Fields. “That retail process of asking individuals for contributions then became a wholesale process where we transformed advocacy into a legitimate business expense – an investment in the future of our practice.”

Dr. John Proctor, president of TeamHealth Midsouth Division, and NEMPAC Board of Trustees member, said it’s a critical time to support emergency medicine advocates on Capitol Hill. In 2010 he began organizing NEMPAC campaigns within TeamHealth, an emergency physician and provider group with partner hospitals in 48 states. This year the campaign offers emergency physicians the option of electing a one-time payroll deduction for their NEMPAC contribution and includes a group-wide financial goal that TeamHealth hopes to reach by ACEP13 this fall in Seattle.

“Our consistent support of these legislators year after year leads to ongoing relationships and dialogue about matters of importance to physicians and patients,” said Dr. Proctor. “In addition, this is a pivotal time as health care reform plays out.”

FEP, based near Orlando, Fla., employs more than 140 full-time emergency physicians and mid-level practitioners. One thing stood out to Dr. Vidor Friedman, currently an ACEP Board Member, when he considered joining the group in 1997.

“There wasn’t a lot of political involvement, and that was a vulnerability to the group,” he said. Today Dr. Friedman serves as a managing partner and FEP’s vice president of governmental affairs and strives to help his fellow emergency physicians understand that investing in the political process is really the same as investing in their profession.

“The only way we can affect the more global issues that impact emergency medicine is to be involved in the political process,” he said. After asking FEP’s Board of Directors to become annual NEMPAC “Give-a-Shift” ($1,000 annually) contributors – setting a concrete example for others to follow – Dr. Friedman presented the “Give-a-Shift” proposition to FEP’s entire group of shareholders. “Everyone wanted to contribute; they just needed a way to do it that was easy and convenient for them,” he said. “By filling out the forms and writing the checks, we’re taking the busywork away and making it possible for everyone to do what they wanted to do in the first place.

Today, 100 percent of Dr. Friedman’s physician partners are NEMPAC contributors – compared with approximately 20 percent before his initiative. “As individuals we can only do so much, but when we work collectively, the little bit that we all do will add up to significant amounts,” Dr. Friedman said. “So now this has just become part of our culture.” FEP has contributed nearly $200,000 to NEMPAC in the last six years and helps to maintain the culture of giving by providing annual updates of NEMPAC’s progress on Medicare, Medicaid, and other emergency medicine issues of importance.

Dr. L. Anthony Cirillo, director of Health Policy and Legislative Advocacy for EMP, a group of approximately 800 emergency physicians and 300 mid-level providers based in Canton, Ohio, specifically sought a group that would allow him to expand his political interests and that of his peers when he joined EMP in 2003. Six years ago he organized a formal NEMPAC “Give-a-Shift” campaign that has raised $75,000 to $100,000 annually since – most recently through the monthly payroll deduction option. “We felt it was much easier to ask for $83 a month than to ask for $1,000 at any one point in time,” said Dr. Cirillo.

The concept of politics has taken on new meaning for EMP since two EMP members, Rep. Joseph Heck (R-NV) and Rep. Raul Ruiz, (D-CA), were elected to Congress in recent years. “Giving to NEMPAC became, honestly, much more personal for us,” said Dr. Cirillo, a NEMPAC Board of Trustees member. “This is family we’re talking about, and it is much easier to convince docs within the company that giving is the right thing to do when it’s our own people.”

The fact that Rep. Heck is a Republican and Rep. Ruiz is a Democrat couldn’t have worked out better, according to Dr. Cirillo. “The message was that it doesn’t matter, because they both understand what we do every day and the frustrations that we face,” he said. “They are the kinds of people you want and need to support in a system where their voice becomes your voice.”

MEP, a group of 150 full-time emergency physicians and advanced practice professionals based in Germantown, Md., offers several methods, including the “Give-a-Shift” option, through which members can contribute to NEMPAC. The payroll deduction method has definitely increased participation in recent months, and the group gives nearly $20,000 annually. Eastside Emergency Physicians, based in Issaquah, Wash., also contributes nearly $25,000 annually to NEMPAC using the payroll deduction method, which was started by one of the group’s officers, Dr. John Milne.

Dr. Angelo Falcone, MEP’s CEO, believes it is incumbent upon emergency physicians to be active in the political process. “We all complain to a certain degree. But if you’re not going to get involved – either personally or through donations – then I really don’t think you have a right to complain,” said Dr. Falcone, also a NEMPAC Board of Trustees member. “In today’s health care climate and with all the changes occurring in health care, participating in politics is part of the price of doing business.”

More information regarding NEMPAC can be found at www.emergencyphysicianspac.org.