ps://time.com/5824465/ lthcare-workers-protest/ COMMITTEE REPORTS
ACEP President’s Message By William Jaquis, MD, FACEP ACEP President ’19-20
When I began my presidency, I already felt that it was time for a reboot in emergency medicine. With many of the incremental changes over time, such as reimbursement, consolidation in the health care markets as well as many others, growing numbers of residency programs, and the growing volume of acute unscheduled care outside the ED, a pause for collective thought was needed. As a result, I convened the Future of Emergency Medicine Task Force.
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As leaders, this is our lane. Each one of us personally needs to know, understand and hardwire our vision. I know we will look back and be comforted and content with the directions we took.
Flash forward a few brief months and we not only have a pandemic, but also the worldwide Black Lives Matter movement that has touched communities throughout the world. And currently, in the U.S., most of our communities seem to have decided that COVID is over enough that even relatively minor concessions, such as a mask and social distancing, are too much of an imposition.
that frustration is also the pain that moves us to seek longer-term solutions.
With much of what has transpired related and leading to the world where we live, I think about the energy and intention that is necessary to solve these issues. Societies often get caught up in the need for immediate gratification. The dopamine and adrenaline responses to this need inundate us through social media and nearly every type of media. Those connections draw us to those who fill that need, often aligning us against some seen or unseen villains, and moving us away from discussion and dialogue that we need to move forward. As emergency physicians, we clearly and deeply understand the quick sprint. For many of us, the pull to what we do is the ability to quickly assess and solve problems, facing frustration with the barriers to achieving them. Frankly,
The difficulty in living within that atmosphere for too long is clear. It renders us, at times, incapable of the conscious intention that forces us to look deeper into issues, which could lead to longer-term solutions. In the past few weeks, I have been reminded multiple times of work that has been done over time within ACEP by our staff and volunteers, physicians and others, that have led or are leading to change. In June, a law related to surprise medical billing in Georgia passed that encompassed many of the components we feel are necessary to protect patients and provide fair compensation for the work that we do. The Georgia ACEP Chapter has been working with the Georgia Medical Association and other specialties for years. Within the College at the national level, EMpulse Summer 2020
the Reimbursement Committee has also worked for years on this issue. When Dr. Gerardi was President, he convened a Joint Task Force with the EDPMA to draw more ongoing resources to SMB, of which I was the Board liaison. Those efforts have significantly altered the course in Georgia. I also think about the work of the Alternative Payment Model Task Force — their ongoing efforts led to an AUCM model that is currently being addressed with state and commercial insurers. Throughout my career, I have worked in the cities of Cleveland, Chicago and Baltimore, watching the barriers to care in these communities lead to significantly impacted health outcomes. Like many of you, those experiences have been formative in my career. With growing understanding of the social determinants of health, our EDs have moved farther into the care delivery system both in-front and in-back of the acute visit. In Baltimore, I experienced first-hand the shift in our delivery system as the payment model changed and the care reached people instead of populations. Building health care delivery systems that provide better outcomes requires an understanding of communities from a very granular level, but it is achievable if we work with ongoing purpose. My experience and interest in Baltimore are part of what inspired me to get another degree in Healthcare Quality from the Jefferson College of Population Health. Despite some significant changes in mobility in our communities and businesses, COVID-19 quickly resurfaced when all mitigation measures were ignored. Despite some effort over time to reduce
