On the Issues: Cameron Olderog, MD, FACEP, VACEP's New President
During our 2021 virtual CME conference in February, VACEP installed a new president for a two-year term: Cameron Olderog, MD, FACEP. Cameron is an Army veteran and emergency physician with Inova Health System (you can get to know more about her from our 2019 profile, here).
This week, we caught up with Cameron to get a sense of where she sees VACEP headed, and the issues on her mind that are impacting — for better or worse — emergency medicine.
On her own vision for VACEP:
It’s so hard coming out of COVID to think of where our organization will be in two years. Like any sort of vision you ever wanted to have, I think there's always the external pressures like COVID that adjust any specific goals that you may have had in mind. But big picture, the overarching theme, is continuing to focus on the physician. And I think that's important. Our membership is composed of the ER docs, and so our role is to make sure that we are out there protecting their interests.
“When the ER docs are taken care of, the patients get the best care.”
On the biggest threats to emergency medicine:
Note: Get a quick rundown of VACEP-monitored legislation in the 2021 General Assembly
The reimbursement piece is big and will continue to be a focus. When we look at legislation, we look at it through the filter of, “Is this going to make an ER doc’s job harder?” And if the answer is “Yes,” then we’re going to be against it. Because when the ER docs are taken care of, their patients get the best care. But just like you never know what’s coming through the door in an ED, we can often never predict the issues that arise. But if you keep the big picture, it’s important we stay nimble and adjust.
We have to explain how processes or regulations impact physicians on the ground. Things like balance billing: What does the new law that patients cannot get a surprise bill look like for the individual ER physician? Some docs work for groups with very little balance billing like myself and some work for groups with more balance billing, but we all expect long term for this to impact contracts so it will touch each of us. We need to show members how, when bills in the General Assembly pass or are rejected, how we fought for you, or how it could have been worse, or how we got it as good as we did. As an example, the surprise billing bill isn’t great, but it was going to be really terrible without our advocacy.
On scope of practice for NPs and the emergency medicine practice environment:
Nationally it’s a big issue. It's going on in every single state and at the federal level. Unfortunately, looking at everything, I don’t see us winning well. But to physicians, it's important we fight.
A separate issue I see that is starting to arise is more around the emergency medicine practice environment: Like, who do you work for? And what does that mean as far as whether you're an independent contractor, or an employee of the hospital, or part of a small democratic group? COVID has opened up our eyes to a lot of the business practices behind that. During COVID, ER docs were quick to have hours and benefits cut and that only added to the stress of a pandemic we were fighting. We need to make sure that regardless of employment agreement, docs are protected.
I can see practice environment being a little bit more of a focus this year as we're coming out of things and physicians feel like they can have a little bit more voice and put a little bit more time on it.
“Leadership in medicine doesn’t just mean treating patients daily, but having the opportunity to make a difference on a bigger level.”
On Medical Malpractice:
Note: This year, a bill was proposed in Virginia that would have eliminated Virginia’s medical malpractice cap. Caps dictate the maximum amount that a patient, family, and their attorney can recover in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Caps make medical malpractice insurance affordable and ensure access to quality patient care. While the bill was killed, there is a clear feeling in the General Assembly that this issue needs to be revisited, despite Virginia being only eight years into a 20-year deal with the trial lawyers. This issue will be studied in the interim, and we expect to see legislation again in 2022.
Med mal will be a thing again for sure. The trial lawyers don’t want to change anything, but the legislators do. We definitely need to be at the table for that conversation. We have some ideas. Med mal is a stressful thing for physicians. It’s expensive. It’s a big deal, especially when you talk about EMTALA, as we are one of the top groups to get sued because we don’t have ongoing patient relationships. I mean, anytime things get dropped, even if you don't have a payout, I think there's just some sense of relief with the cap in place of, “They can't take my house and everything else, because at least I have coverage up to the cap.” From a standpoint of physician wellness, it’s important we keep the cap.
On membership engagement:
One of the things I really do want to do is highlight the work that gets done and showcase all we're doing and accomplishing. We’re going to have a million workgroups coming up with many ways to get involved over the next few months. We will be sure to publish these opportunities to members so that you can get involved with your own interests. We’ve seen a big increase in member engagement, especially over the last year, and I want that to continue to grow.
Look for a list of workgroups and engagement opportunities soon. If you want to jump in now, email Sarah Marshall, VACEP’s Executive Director.