President's Letter
Renee Engler, MD, FACEP
Nebraska Chapter Members,
The 2019 ACEP Council Meeting was productive for our chapter. We successfully co sponsored three resolutions supporting research in telemedicine and advancing emergency medicine care in in rural facilities. The summary of the council's resolutions can be found by clicking here.
In October, there was a public hearing proposing changes in the statewide trauma system regulation. The proposed requirements would require ATLS certification for all providers caring for trauma patients. Secondly, the proposed regulations would require emergency physicians to complete 32 hours of trauma CME every 4 years for advanced trauma centers and 16 hours of CME for general and basic trauma centers. A joint letter, with National ACEP, was sent in opposition of these proposed changes. To see a copy of the letter, click here. Thank you to Dr. Muelleman and Dr. Zeger for their testimony at this town hall meeting.
The House recently introduced the CONNECT for Health Act of 2019. This legislation is to promote the use of telehealth services in Medicare.The bill also includes provisions which requires CMS' process to add telehealth services. ACEP continues regulatory efforts to add emergency services to the list of approved telehealth services.
The Nebraska Chapter Reception at ACEP19 in Denver was again sponsored by Nebraska Medicine. There was over 20 people in attendance. We had a great time. We thank Nebraska Medicine for their continued support of our chapter!
We look forward to our spring meeting. There will be an election for the position of President-Elect. Please contact me if you are interested.
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