Before the ACEP 2026 Scientific Assembly kicked off in Chicago this week, ACEP Council met to determine the future direction of emergency medicine nationwide. Among the resolutions considered was one from VACEP aimed at strengthening accountability in how patient experience surveys are used to evaluate emergency physicians.
An otherwise healthy 7-year-old male presents to the emergency department with fever, cough and shortness of breath. After a review of his vitals, you immediately put him on a nasal cannula, establish IV access, and order a sepsis workup. Lactate on a point of care lab comes back as 6.5. The nurse then asks: Which fluids would you use for resuscitation?
VACEP’s government affairs lead Aimee Perron Seibert and president Joran Sequeira, MD walk through all the new laws impacting emergency medicine on July 1 in this podcast and slideshow. Includes links broken out by issue.
Oregon and Virginia are testing how states can protect physician autonomy amid growing private equity influence in healthcare.
A 79-year-old male with a history of hypertension, peripheral arterial disease, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, and diabetes presents to your community emergency department with sudden onset vision loss of the right eye, with onset two hours prior to arrival. Should you administer tenecteplase to this patient?
For many physicians, receiving notice of a Virginia Board of Medicine complaint can be one of the most stressful experiences of their career — even when the complaint is unfounded and ultimately dismissed. Here’s a new law that will help improve the process, along with a handbook you can use in the event you are served with a complaint.
A thirty-year-old male presents to the emergency department (ED) as the unrestrained driver of a rollover motor vehicle accident. During his trauma assessment, the patient becomes progressively more dyspneic, and you are unable to auscultate breath sounds on the right chest wall. Do you reach for the pigtail catheter (PTC) (</=14 French) or the large bore catheter (LBC) that you were trained to place for a hemothorax (28-32 French)?
A Virginia law will change how and when certain diagnostic results are released to patients. It’s a shift that could have significant implications for emergency departments. Here’s what it means for emergency physicians and health systems.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger has signed several bills into law that carry implications for emergency physicians, hospital operations, and patient care across Virginia. See how medicine in Virginia has changed.
A patient is brought to the emergency department (ED) by emergency medical services (EMS) with concern for sepsis. The patient has a history of urosepsis but is oriented with vital signs in the normal range. You - the physician - are deciding if it is appropriate to sepsis alert the patient now, or if you should first collect more data. What other information could be used to better inform this decision?
ACEP and VACEP outline transparency, due process, and patient care priorities amid Valley Health’s emergency medicine contract transition.
It is a busy shift when a 61-year-old male presents to your ED with chest pain. He is roomed immediately, but your lobby is pushing capacity and there are 42 admitted patients boarding in your department. How do you maximize throughput while maintaining high-quality patient care?
The 2026 Virginia General Assembly has adjourned. Emergency physicians closely watched several major policy debates, including a proposal to dramatically raise Virginia’s medical malpractice cap, legislation affecting physician assistant practice authority, new restrictions on healthcare non-compete agreements, and ongoing efforts to address workplace violence and behavioral health challenges in the Commonwealth’s healthcare system. Here’s a recap.
Learn when and how emergency physicians in Virginia can obtain a medical TDO to continue medically necessary stabilization and treatment when a patient lacks decision-making capacity.
In a late session move, the General Assembly is pushing legislation that would increase Virginia’s medical malpractice cap.
When choosing induction agents, does ketamine decrease the risk of death compared to etomidate? Authors, reviewers, and editors from VCU Health, Eastern Virginia Medical School at Old Dominion University, and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine review a December 2025 NEJM article to find out.
ACEP President Dr. L. Anthony Cirillo told Virginia emergency physicians, residents, and med students that mounting pressures from insurers, workforce shortages and political polarization demand unity, advocacy, and a renewed focus on the profession’s purpose.
At the end of the fourth week of the Virginia General Assembly, we offer a look at a few key pieces of EM-impacting legislation.
Enjana Bylykbashi, MD & Emily Kershner, MD from VCU Health review the October 2025 study on the re-evaluation of Nonoperative Management for Pediatric Uncomplicated Acute Appendicitis. Here's their analysis.
Virginia emergency physicians were in Richmond for EM Advocacy Day. Here’s a look at the bills we discussed with lawmakers.
