One of the five pillars of ACEP’s new strategic plan is focused on the thoughtful management of the College’s resources. This part of the plan encompasses many aspects of ACEP’s operations and systems—digital and communications infrastructure, staffing, systems and finances—that enable ACEP to move forward with its mission to support and advocate for emergency physicians.

A key strategy within the Resources & Accountability portion of the plan is to “develop alternative/nontraditional revenue sources” (beyond member dues) that allow ACEP to do more without placing that financial burden on its members. Alternative revenue sources let ACEP do more for its members by offsetting expenses, including staff salaries and benefits, educational and training resources, travel, and IT costs.

One of the ways ACEP earns non-dues revenue is by seeking, winning, and utilizing federal, foundation and corporate grant funding. Did you know ACEP has earned nearly $40 million in grant funding since 2004? Those grants have funded some of ACEP’s most utilized resources, including the COVID-19 Field Guide and many point-of-care tools.

The Execution

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Successfully earning grants starts with seeking and developing relationships with grantor organizations who align with our mission and having strong proposals and procedures. ACEP’s meticulous record-keeping and clean audits has helped the College build a positive reputation as a reliable grantee.

Many grant projects utilize ACEP members as Principal Investigators (PI) and Subject Matter Experts (SME) to help design and lead the projects. ACEP staffers with expertise in a variety of subjects, including EMS, disaster preparedness, data analysis, registries, library science, and education, are also utilized to execute the grant projects.

Ensuring Transparent, Diligent Management of Resources

Each month, ACEP4U will highlight and expand on a specific pillar of ACEP’s new strategic plan. This month, we focus on the third strategic pillar—Resources and Accountability. More than 100 ACEP members were involved in developing ACEP’s new strategic plan to guide the College for the next three to five years.

Alexander Rosenau, DO, FACEP, was part of the planning group that developed the Resources & Accountability pillar of the plan.

“Strategic planning says, I can’t predict the future because there’ll be new inventions, new problems. There’ll be the next pandemic. But it does say that if I understand my foundation and my resources, and if I understand my values and the mission and the winning proposition of the emergency physician as first priority… then we are going to make great strides and be even stronger tomorrow than we are today,” Dr. Rosenau said.

The Resources & Accountability portion of the strategic plan features six key strategies to ensures the thoughtful acquisition and management of resources:

Invest in overhauling ACEP’s digital infrastructure to modernize systems, deliver a more personalized, proactive and responsive experience for members, and support exceptional customer service.
Implement a systematic program evaluation process that considers new and on-going needs, return on investment (including member value) and the College strategic plan.
Adopt effective project management techniques and data-driven decision-making processes.
Re-examine membership/non-member pricing models and explore other models that would be of interest to more eligible members and still allow us to fulfill our role.
Develop alternative/non-traditional revenue sources and opportunities to achieve our strategic priorities.
Ensure all ACEP communications are strategic, transparent, bidirectional, proactive, and effective.

The Results

Over the years, grant funding has supported the development of many popular member resources and initiatives, from webinars to clinical tools and more. Here are a few highlights:

Quality: Emergency Quality Network (EQUAL), a free program for ACEP members, started with a four-year grant from CMS. It is now funded through foundation support, including a recent $2.9 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to support quality improvement in acute vascular conditions and acute infections.
COVID-19: Some key aspects of ACEP’s COVID-19 response, including the development of the COVID-19 Field Guide and the Physician Wellness Hub, are funded by a multi-year federal grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Opioids: ACEP received multiple grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) to provide Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) training and resident education.
Disaster Response: ACEP has received numerous grants from the CDC, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to train our nation’s first responders for man-made and natural disasters.
Data: ACEP is leveraging the Clinical Emergency Data Registry (CEDR) comprehensive data to supplement national hospital data through funding from the CDC. CEDR data is also being used to create emergency medicine quality measures through foundation funding.
Bedside Tools: ACEP members have access to 16 point-of-care tools (acep.org/pointofcaretools) covering a variety of clinical pathways, from sepsis to hyperkalemia and more. The majority of these bedside tools were developed by ACEP members and supported by grants.