TCEP EMphasis Newsletter

OCTOBER 2021

Legislative Update

Theresa Q. Tran, MD, MBA, FACEP
Chair Government Relations Committee

Legislative Update

October following a regular legislative session in Texas is typically a low-key month in the lawmaking cycle. However, the impact of the continuing pandemic has made 2021 anything but ordinary. With the Texas Legislature currently in its third 30-day special session since the 87th regular session adjourned ...

No Surprises Bill: Breaking Down the Concerning and Flawed Second Interim Final Reg Implementing the No Surprises Act

As many of you already know, last week, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Treasury, and Labor (the Departments) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued an interim final regulation (IFR) implementing part of the No Surprises Act. This second IFR mainly focuses on the federal independent dispute resolution (IDR) process.

The best EM jobs are with US Acute Care Solutions! We offer full-time physicians and ownership opportunity, plus extensive benefits including 401(k). Search our available positions and locations to find your emergency medicine career with USACS at www.usacs.com/careers.

Gottlieb is an industry leader in end-to-end Revenue Cycle Management and Practice Optimization solutions for hospital and independent physician groups, specializing in Emergency Medicine and Hospitalist practices. Gottlieb helps their clients navigate the complex healthcare landscape by designing innovative and technology-enabled services that simplify and improve the financial experience.

You won't want to miss this!

We have an exciting conference planned with great educational courses but more importantly networking with your colleagues! After 2 years of not being able to meet in-person at CONNECT, it will be wonderful RE-connecting with you all!

Schedule Overview

Friday: 1:00pm - 6:00pm
Educational Sessions
Workforce Keynote
Welcome Reception

Saturday: 8:00am - 5:00pm
Labs
Resident OlEMpics
Student Tracks
Annual Business Meeting: 10:45-11:45am
Awards Luncheon
Educational Sessions

Registration information will be sent out this fall!
Mark your calendars for now!

Confused about boosters?

COVID-19 booster shots are important for some groups of vaccinated people, and recent events have added to confusion about who can and should get them, and when. This article seeks to clarify some of that confusion.

TeamHealth empowers our leaders to create a culture of high-quality patient care and clinician well-being. Become a leader for one of our Emergency Medicine teams and make a positive impact in your community by improving efficiency and outcomes for care teams. View emergency medicine leadership job openings with TeamHealth here.

Professional Emergency Medicine Management

EM Workforce Initiative

Two videos have been produced giving excellent information about the work of the Workforce Groups. If you want to understand the complexity of this issue and the massive amount of work that is being done, please watch these videos.

#1: ACEP President-Elect, Dr. Gillian Schmitz, gives us a Workforce Minute update and informs us of what ACEP has been up to—highlighting the data around the growth of residency programs vs. attrition, how residency programs are created, and updates on the five pillars.

#2: ACEP President-Elect, Dr. Gillian Schmitz, gives us a Workforce Minute update and provides some insight on what was learned during a recent meeting with the leadership of HCA Healthcare—the largest for-profit hospital system with over 180 hospitals.

Texas Delegation Attends Council meeting in Boston

With over 70 resolutions to review and discuss, the Texas delegation will be busy Oct 23 and 24 while in Boston at the ACEP Council meeting.

Few could have predicted the pandemic of 2020 or the crisis it caused. But through all the uncertainty we’ve already experienced and all the uncertainty yet to come, TMLT stands by you. We fight to defend you. We fight for tort reform. We will fight for you in the aftermath of COVID-19.

Legal Update

Kenneth Alan Totz, DO, JD, FACEP

Surprise, Your Pay Is Going Down!

This last year has been a perfect storm of disasters for us in emergency medicine (EM). COVID-19 prompted patients for the first time in the recallable past to avoid the emergency department (ED). The precipitous and persistent decline in patient volumes caused many ED’s around the country, including Texas, to close. To add insult to injury ...