Our July Newsletter: eNews 169

Alt custody, MD-led teams, CME '23, ACEP22 discount

eNews 169 | July 2022 Summertime and the meeting season Amid shuffling shifts and vacation schedules, VACEP members have jumped in on a number of critical meetings this summer that will ultimately improve the practice of emergency medicine statewide. This includes participation in two General Assembly-created workgroups, focused on two issues we are taking the lead to improve: Alternative Custody: How can we get patients brought in under ECO the care they need, without tying up resources and keeping patients and staff safe? And how can we prevent the need for an ECO in the first place? Development of Virginia’s Commercially Reasonable Payments Data Set: Establishing a transparent data set and process to provide carriers, providers, and arbitrators with information to assist in determining commercially reasonable payments and resolving payment disputes for out-of-network medical services rendered by healthcare providers. This is a step that would further improve Virginia’s landmark surprise billing law. In addition, VACEP members have taken part in a number of in-person and Zoom calls covering: Membership: Analyzing member and non-member data and compiling fresh ideas for welcoming and supporting our members. Annual Conference: Planning for the 2023 annual conference. Registration opens in September, but you can show your interest now. Executive Committee: Finalizing our strategic plan and edits to bylaws. EMPAC-VA: Approving our Political Action Committee distributions for the coming months and planning new fundraiser networking events. Evidence-Based Medicine series: Launching a new literature series with peer review and contributions from Virginia’s residencies. At the ACEP level, we hosted a multi-chapter meeting on downcoding advocacy and, starting next week, we’ll be interviewing ACEP candidates for President-Elect and Board of Directors. For now, enjoy some of the latest news in EM across Virginia. — Sarah Marshall, CAE, Executive Director P.S. If you're interested in attending ACEP22 in San Francisco, there's a nice discount code for VACEP members found below. New Resource: Ask VACEP Ask VACEP is a service exclusively for Virginia emergency physicians and other providers to get answers to clinical and policy questions. Check it out. On Paxlovid and Pharmacists This month, the FDA cleared pharmacists to prescribe Paxlovid to high-risk COVID-19 patients, with certain limitations. So it made us ask: what meds or medical products can pharmacists in Virginia prescribe, in addition to Paxlovid? And when it comes to Paxlovid...are pharmacists actually prescribing? Get more on the new policy and background on pharma prescribing in Virginia on our latest blog. Virginia ER doc and VACEP member Jessica Maerz, MD, a former emergency nurse, did a video interview with ACEP on why physician-led care teams are critical. Watch her video or read her article, where she writes: Consider an elderly man that came to my emergency department because he didn’t feel well. He reported that he was having trouble sleeping and the NP on shift that day was ready to chalk up the man’s discomfort to being over tired. The NP didn’t know to test the man for unusually high levels of carbon dioxide right away, which can make people sleepy but can also signal a serious problem. By the time this patient came to my attention, he was not breathing correctly. He soon lost consciousness and slipped into a coma. We quickly put him on a ventilator so that he could breathe with the help of a machine.   Sometimes a diagnosis might seem straightforward but there’s always more to medicine than what’s in the textbooks. If I was able to see this patient just a little bit sooner, a severe issue could have been detected and maybe a ventilator could have been avoided. Tell us you're coming to VACEP's 2023 Annual CME Conference, February 17-19, 2023. We're headed to Williamsburg and are planning a full slate of engaging speakers and events. Registration opens in September. Save the Date/Get More Info Time to Renew your ACEP Membership? Over half of all VACEP memberships are up for renewal this summer. Renew and check out payment options here. 8/8 @ 8AM: LLSA Review Conference VACEP members are invited to join the DC ACEP Chapter for the 15th Annual LLSA Review Conference.  Learn more and Register The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline launched this month. Dialing 988 directs callers to trained National Suicide Prevention Lifeline counselors, opening the door for millions in America to seek the help they need. As The Virginia Mercury reports, however, there is still work to be done to expand capacity of CSBs, even if Virginia has led the way.  Surprise: It's VACEP's most-visited web page. When you Google "surprise billing Virginia," VACEP's website is one of the top results you'll get. So it's no wonder this page is our No. 1 most-visited on our website, providing answers to frequently asked questions about the law that went into effect in January 2021. This is also illustrative of our work to help educate patients on the issues that impact them both in terms of their health — and their wallets.   What's it cost?  The Times-Dispatch took a look at how the federal law requiring pricing transparency at hospitals is shaping up around Central Virginia. Read More. And on that note, the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association has launched a tool to help find prices for medical procedures, which you can get here. Notes from ACEP Help move the Safety From Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE) Act forward. Send a message to your Representative today.  Read: Advancing Value-based Care in Emergency Medicine. The second blog in our special series takes a deeper dive into value-based care and discusses some of the challenges we face moving in this direction, and what we collectively need to do to advance this movement. ACEP is seeking comments on a draft clinical policy for patients with suspected appendicitis. Weigh in.  New Fellowship opportunity: ACEP is seeking a Senior Research Fellow to support the College's research initiatives, including Research Forum, EMBRS and more. It's a part time role (10 hours/week), and remote candidates will be considered. Fellows will have the opportunity to direct studies that will enhance the practice of EM using the data available through ACEP. Learn more.  Prep for ACEP22, Oct. 1-4 in SFO: Did you know you can search the full ACEP22 course list by faculty, topic, track, and keyword? Get a $150 discount on registration with the code VIRGINIA at checkout. Register. Virginia College of Emergency Physicians | (804) 297-3170 | E-mail | Website

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