Darwin Castillo, MD, MBA, FACEP shares his unique experiences and insights on the L&A Fellowship. He joined the fellowship after witnessing the COVID-19 pandemic further reveal the many difficulties emergency physicians face, and the urgent need for change throughout the healthcare system.
Meet VACEP fellow TJ Tzavaras, who is wrapping up his fellowship with four others. “The issues VACEP advocates for are not esoteric. They shape the patients we see, the resources they have, and the compensation we are afforded.”
Pushing for fair payment is far and away the top advocacy issue on VACEP’s agenda at any given time. Today, we have a few good updates to share — and on several issues that appeared to be a lost cause even as recently as a few weeks ago.
A team effort successfully amended a bill that Nurse Practitioners are backing to decrease the number of years of clinical experience required, from five years to two, for their independent practice. Those NPs who received a license during the pandemic (when the requirement was lowered to two years to address emergency needs) are allowed to keep their status under this new substitute bill.
It was a big month for VACEP and we made progress on both state and national fronts. Read more in our giant February newsletter.
This week, VACEP and our allies secured a major win when a federal judge in Texas ruled in our favor regarding the process for resolving reimbursement disputes between insurers and physicians. The decision puts emergency medicine one step closer to ensuring a fair arbitration process as part of the federal No Surprises Act.
At the halfway point of the Virginia General Assembly, five members of VACEP’s Board of Directors provided an update to fellow emergency physicians across Virginia on the status of key legislation that the group is supporting, opposing, or simply monitoring.
“I’m asking you to come at this with a sense of optimism that we’re going to be okay,” ACEP President Gillian Schmitz told members of the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians. “I know people are stressed right now, I know there's a high level of anxiety about multiple different factors impacting our practice, but it's going to be okay, and we’re making some significant headway.”
Emergency Physicians from across Virginia came to Richmond on Wednesday, January 26 to advocate for emergency medicine. After a briefing on issues from VACEP lobbyist Aimee Perron Seibert, a team of more than a dozen emergency physicians went to the Pocahontas Building, where members have their offices as the new General Assembly building is constructed. They met with legislators and aides, usually for about 5 or 10 minutes, and discussed key issues that impact EM.
As the Omicron variant spreads and COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surge, Virginia’s emergency departments have been overwhelmed with patients seeking care. The Virginia College of Emergency Physicians is calling on Gov. Ralph Northam to once again declare a State of Emergency, a designation that can provide relief to emergency departments statewide, and for public health officials to open more testing sites.
It is disappointing to see that despite a huge surplus in the Medicaid program, Governor Ralph Northam’s introduced 2022-2024 biennial budget preserves a harmful policy that improperly penalizes emergency physicians and frontline healthcare professionals who have been providing care to all Virginians, including Medicaid patients.
Despite a similar policy being removed from the Virginia budget a few years ago due to being at odds with state and federal law, this policy was enacted at the urging of Medicaid managed care organizations and enacted during the COVID-19 budget uncertainty.
As you read this, we’re packing up the final boxes and moving furniture from our former office in the Medical Society of Virginia building in Richmond.
Here’s a quick election analysis, which helps set the stage for White Coats on Call 2022 and gives us an understanding of the new environment at the Virginia General Assembly.
Last month at ACEP21 in Boston, ACEP Councilors — essentially like a legislative branch of ACEP — met to discuss new Resolutions.
“Resolutions” pertain to issues affecting the practice of emergency medicine, advocacy and regulatory issues, and amendments to things like the College Bylaws or rules. Resolutions are considered formal motions that, if adopted, become official Council policy.
