ACEP-Developed Due Process Legislation Introduced by Congress

Last month, Congress introduced the “Physician and Patient Safety Act” (H.R. 8325/S. 4278), which would ensure emergency physicians are afforded due process protections  before any change in a physician’s employment status—one of ACEPs top advocacy priorities for years. ACEP helped develop this bill that would require the Department of Health and Human Services to issue regulations ensuring that any physician has a fair hearing and appellate review before any termination, restriction, or reduction of professional activity. This proposed legislation is the result of years of ACEP advocacy for stronger protections for emergency physicians on the job. ACEP has long held that all emergency physician contracts should include a due process clause.

ACEP’s Extensive Work with Feds to End Non-Compete Clauses Pays Off

For years, ACEP has sounded the alarm on the detrimental impact of noncompete clauses on emergency physicians that limit their right to freely practice medicine in their communities. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission voted 3-2 to ban these clauses in the future & make current ones unenforceable—a move that ACEP strongly supports. Using your powerful stories, ACEP has been consistently and repeatedly helping to ensure the FTC saw the impact of these predatory clauses and help address the anticompetitive conditions faced by many emergency physicians.

New State Legislative Dashboard Highlights Chapter Advocacy Activities

Use a new one-stop shop to stay current on state-level legislative and regulatory activities with ACEP’s new State Legislative Dashboard. The dashboard was announced at ACEP’s Leadership and Advocacy Conference earlier this year and covers initiatives such as health care worker safety, legal mandates on clinical practice, mental health and boarding, scope of practice, and others. Issue-specific details are behind a member login.

Check it out at acep.org/StateLegislativeDashboard.

Call for ACEP Now Columnists, Writers

The ACEP Now Editorial Advisory Board would like to expand its group of columnists and writers. Are you:

• Boarded in Emergency Medicine with a Critical Care subspecialty and aware of current updates in EMCC?
• An emergency physician with medical malpractice or risk management expertise?

For either column, ACEP Now needs excellent writers who are reliable, are able to meet deadlines, have unique ideas that meet the pulse of the membership, and are not currently a recurring writer in another publication. If you are interested, please send an email telling us why you’d be a great fit, along with at least one writing sample, to acepnow@acep.org.