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President’s Message
Timothy Johnson, MD, FACEP
Dear Members of Minnesota ACEP:
2020 is finally in the rearview mirror, and I can't say I'm going to miss it. COVID-19 continues to dominate our lives for a little while longer.
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Most Minnesota emergency physicians, advanced practice clinicians, and emergency nurses have now been vaccinated, which is a blessing. The rollout of vaccination for the rest of our state has been slower with about 10% of our state population having received their first dose, though the rate will increase over the next few weeks. We may be able to reach 70-90% herd immunity within 6 more months. Hospitalizations are trending down, and Minnesota's daily death toll was down to 3 today. The bad news is that the UK, Brazil, and South Africa variants are all present in our state and will double every 10 days unless vaccination, masking, and testing stop replication. Fatigue and cabin fever are hitting us all hard, but please keep doing what you do best: giving your patients excellent care and setting a good example.
Minnesota ACEP is producing a conference over Zoom on Health Equity to be held on April 19 between 8 a.m. and noon. Registration is free to our members, be on the lookout for an email coming your way shortly with registration information. It is a timely subject with several great speakers, I hope you can join us.
We usually have an educational conference in the fall. Our board is meeting soon to discuss whether we will try to hold an in-person get together versus a virtual conference versus sitting out 2021 and letting everyone fully utilize their emergency medicine podcast subscription this year. I will let you know as soon as I know. Weigh in if you have a topic you want to hear about or if you just are really itching to connect (safely) with your friends and colleagues. In the meantime, there are at least two in-person conferences coming up. AAEM is having their Scientific Assembly in St. Louis June 20-24 unless the pandemic forces another cancellation. ACEP will be having our annual day on Capitol Hill, our Leadership and Advocacy conference July 25-27. Last year's conference was held via phone, not even Zoom, though honestly, the number of members of Congress that we contacted personally (versus just their healthcare legislative assistant) was much higher than normal. I invite any interested Minnesota ACEP member to join me there, particularly constituents from greater Minnesota represented by members of Congress that we cannot visit for lack of a constituent, like Jim Hagedorn, Michelle Fischbach, Tom Emmer, and Pete Stauber. Even Betty McCollum and Ilhan Omar constituents are sometimes in short supply. ACEP's Scientific Assembly is slated for October 25-28 in Boston and should be great, COVID-19 willing.
Thanks again for being a Minnesota ACEP member and for all you do for your patients.
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Legislative Update
Buck McAlpin, Legislative Consultant
It is hard to believe that we have wrapped up a month of the 2021 legislative session. This session has been very bizarre, to say the least, with the remote format and the Capital complex basically closed to the public and lobbyist. All those years of building relationships with key legislators and staff is definitely paying off. The long list of cell phone numbers I have complied has really been the only way to communicate with legislators and staff over any issues or opportunities. Over the last month Committees in the House and Senate have continued to hold hearings with mostly State agencies to understand the Governor’s budget proposal introduced at the end of January. >> READ MORE
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Welcome New Members!
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Leslie A Adrian, MD
Jana L Anderson
Donald J Baker, MD, FACEP
Alexander Benson
Zachary Carel
Anneliese Cuttle, MD
Benjamin Jon Eide
Blaine D Evans, DO
Derrick D Fenchel, MD
Emma Bao Wei Fiala
Laura Fisher, DO
Alexis Gannon
Samuel Isaias Garcia
Alexander D Ginsburg, MD
Elise M Hart, MD
Trinh Ho, DO
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Caden Hullin
Nicholas C Johnson, MD, FACEP
Scott A Joing, MD
Christopher J Kaczmarczyk, DO
Nooreen Khan
Karl Koivisto
Jenna Lee Langer
Ryan Dennis McMahon, BS
Anthony J Michaelis, DO
Kelly Oberg
Renzhong Ran, MD
Pierre Spaulding Sebastian
Kruti Shukla, MD
Nathan D Swenson
Kasey Theisen Sturm, MD
Jennifer Thomalla
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FROM NATIONAL ACEP
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ACEP Quick List: Upcoming Events and Deadlines
Feb. 24: (new date) Free webinar: The EMTALA Complaint Process (2 p.m. CT)
Feb. 24: Virtual Grand Rounds – "Simulation: OB Emergencies with EMRA"
March 1: Nominations due for ACEP Leadership Awards and Wellness Center of Excellence Award
March 14: Applications due for EM Innovators of the Year competition
March 22: Nominations due for ACEP Board of Directors, Council Office
April 15: Nominations due for ACEP Teaching Awards and ACEP/EMRA Medical Student Professionalism and Service Award
April 19-21: Virtual Advanced Pediatric Emergency Medical Assembly
July 25-27: Leadership & Advocacy Conference (Washington, DC)
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Stay current with the COVID-19 Center. It's your one-stop-shop for clinical and legislative updates.
New Resource: COVID-19 Data Visualizations
ACEP's newest resource provides visualizations of U.S. emergency department data across three categories: total visits, COVID-like illness visits, and influenza-like illness visits. The data are available at both national and Health and Human Services (HHS) regional resolutions and across several timescales (e.g., 7-day, 30-day, 90-day). It's sortable by time and region. Data is updated weekly. View the visualizations.
The February 10 edition of the Capital (30) Minutes webinar provided updates on COVID relief, physician mental health and more.
Quick Links: COVID-19 Field Guide | COVID-19 Vaccination Toolkit | COVID-19 Microlearning Education
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The COVID-19 Crisis is Uniquely Exhausting - ACEP Can Help
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It’s vital to prioritize your own mental health and this is an especially vulnerable time of year in an extremely stressful environment. Take advantage of these resources whenever you need them:
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Did you know your ACEP membership comes with three free counseling or coaching sessions available through phone, text or online chat? And for a small extra fee, you can add on financial and/or legal assistance.
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The Physician Wellness Hub can help you find the right support, whether you’d like to talk with a peer or a professional counselor.
It’s a great time to gently check in with your friends, family and colleagues. Worried about saying the wrong thing? Read these peer support basics.
Want to remind your team about on-site support options? Create a mental health care access map. Already have one? Resend the map so your coworkers know how to find support during the challenging weeks ahead.
ACEP hosted two Theater of War performances in 2020 and recently partnered with the Infectious Disease Society of America on a podcast discussing how these performances can help EM physicians process the unprecedented hardships of working in the ED during a pandemic. Learn more.
Last but not least: If you’re passionate about peer support in emergency medicine, we invite you to join ACEP’s Peer Support Project.
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Regulatory News
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Answering Your Questions About the New Medicare Add-on for MAT in the ED
EM physicians can start getting reimbursed by Medicare for MAT services you deliver in the emergency department (ED)! This is a policy that ACEP strongly advocated for and helped secure in the 2021 Medicare physician fee schedule regulation (the major annual reg that impacts Medicare payments for physicians and other health care practitioners). In that reg, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a proposal to create a new add-on code for MAT (G2213) that can be billed in addition to an ED evaluation and management (E/M) code during an ED visit. READ MORE
Catch up on the latest federal regulatory news with ACEP's Regs and Eggs blog:
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ACEP Member Resources
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Litigation Resources: The majority of physicians will be sued during their career, and the experience – or even just the prospect of being sued – can be very stressful. On top of that reality, COVID-19 presents new concerns that could make it even more complicated. These resources are here to help.
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Prepare for your continuous EM board certification with Critical Decision's 2020 LLSA Literature Review issue (free member benefit). Get the highlights from each ABEM article to make your studying faster and more productive.
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Podcast fans: ACEP's podcast family includes Frontline, ACEP Now, Annals of EM, Critical Decisions and JACEP Open + EMergence, a new EM innovation podcast.
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Latest Pain Management and Opioid-Related Resources:
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PEER Can Help You Cram for the ConCert Exam
Getting ready for the spring ConCert Exams? ACEP has tools that can help! PEER is the leading resource for review and self-assessment. You can check your readiness with a free PEER pretest. Learn more.
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Save the Dates: Virtual PEM21 and LAC21
ACEP's Annual Leadership & Advocacy Conference is now scheduled for July 25-27 in Washington, D.C. This is your chance to advocate for your specialty, engage with new members of Congress and connect with your peers. Join the Interest List for updates.
While you're marking your calendars, make plans to join us for this year's Virtual Advanced Pediatric Emergency Medical Assembly April 19-21, 2021. Learn what's new and gain the skills you need to take on your next pediatric emergency.
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CORD 2021 Academic Assembly
CORD is excited to launch its ‘Virtually Unstoppable’ Academic Assembly on April 12-15, 2021. Registration information coming soon! Visit www.cordem.org for updates.
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From the Emergency Medicine Foundation:
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News From ABEM
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ABEM Issues Statement on its Commitment to Maintaining Certification Standards
Feb 08, 2021
The American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) understands that this past year was particularly challenging for emergency physicians, especially early career physicians. Every physician member of the ABEM Board of Directors is clinically active and understands the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The disruptions affecting our specialty have also affected ABEM certification. Read the full statement here.
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Minnesota Chapter ACEP
6 Greenhaven Bay #289
Faribault, MN 55021
© 2021 Minnesota Chapter ACEP. All rights reserved.
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