With another year soon coming to a close, ACOEP is very excited to welcome two new staff members to the team, Tyescia “Ty” Jackson and Lindsey Roden. Ty Jackson, who will be taking on the role of Manager of Continuing Medical Education, is a Chicago native, and comes to ACOEP with much experience in non-profit medical education, having worked with the American Medical Technologists, Emergency Nurses Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics in the past. Ty’s position includes ensuring that all educational activities are conducted in compliance with the standards [...]

This year's Resident Chapter Governing Board election will take place on Wednesday, November 2nd from 12:30-2:00pm at the ACOEP Resident Chapter Board Meeting at Scientific Assembly in San Francisco, CA. The Resident Chapter Governing Board is made up of 13 members, including five executive officers (President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Immediate Past-President), and eight committee members. Below are descriptions for each position on the Governing Board. If you wish to learn more information about the open positions below, please contact ACOEP Resident Chapter President, John Downing, DO, at john.downing@gmail.com. Voting for the Resident Chapter [...]

By Bradley Chappell, DO, MHA, FACOEP, FACEP The triple aim of healthcare, as defined by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, is increased QUALITY, decreased COST, and PATIENT SATISFACTION.¹ If you work in a community setting, there is rarely a shift you work that patient satisfaction does not cross your mind. Many groups financially incentivize you to keep this concept at the forefront of your thought process. Often, the motivation is to avoid the principal’s office (your medical director) as they formulate a response to a patient complaint letter. So what is [...]

Megan Koenig, DO, MBA, MS New Physicians in Practice Committee Past-Chair We are pleased to welcome guest blogger Megan Koenig, Past-Chair of ACOEP’s New Physicians in Practice Committee, as she provides tips on maintaining and improving your credit score. Once a year it is smart to request your credit reports in order to do an annual “cleaning” of your credit to make sure there are no errors/fraud. And it is definitely a good idea to request a report 2-3 months in advance of any large purchases. Even just [...]

National Government Services, a Medicare billing contractor, has proposed a policy called a Local Coverage Determination (LCD), that will make it difficult to bill Medicare for any medical office visits when OMT is performed. If passed, this policy will automatically impact ten states including- Illinois, Minnesota, Connecticut, Wisconsin, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Main and Rhode Island, and will most likely be a policy that many Medicare contractors and private insurers across the country adopt. This Local Coverage Determination policy goes against how DOs practice and restricts patients’ access to [...]

By Bradley Chappell, DO, MHA, FACOEP, FACEP It is that time of the year again.  July is the month we bid adieu to our experienced seniors, welcome the new juniors, and spend a little time enjoying the warm summer fun in the sun.  As you transition to a new stage in your career, there are many things to consider.  This month we will discuss professional and personal priorities, how to win friends and influence people, and when to draw a line in the sand.  Managing people will be a skill you [...]

Yesterday was a big day on Capitol Hill, and for the emergency medicine community. Craig Manifold, DO testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee in the hearing “Strengthening our National Trauma System.” Click here for a video recording of the session, Dr.Manifold’s testimony begins around 1:09. Other members of the committee Jorie Klein, RN, BSN, Director of Trauma Program, Parkland Health & Hospital System; Brent Myers, MD, President-Elect, National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP); C. William Schwab, MD, FACS, Founding Chief, Division of Traumatology, Surgical Critical Care and Emergency Surgery, [...]