The American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) will always advocate for patients’ rights to receive expert emergency care from board-certified emergency medicine (EM) physicians. This is our core foundational belief. While the Academy understands and appreciates the complexities of staffing our nation’s emergency departments, our core belief will not waver.
“Accreditation” implies meeting a standard. To that end, AAEM has significant concerns regarding emergency department accreditation programs that devalue the training and expertise of EM board certification. All patients in an emergency department deserve to be treated by a board-certified emergency physician. Any accreditation program that diminishes the value of our expertise by enabling the independent practice of non-physician practitioners (NPPs) undermines this standard. Many NPPs have no training in emergency medicine before practicing independently. Allowing this independent practice, at any accreditation level, puts patients at risk for receiving care without the real time engagement of an emergency physician.
EM physicians can only provide the best care when free from outside influences. This concept should be explicitly stated in any accreditation program. EM physicians should be guaranteed non-waivable due process rights without restrictive covenants or non-compete clauses. This, along with billing transparency, must be a standard to guarantee that patient care decisions are made by physicians at the bedside of their patients.
At the forefront of developing an accreditation program is a clear statement of its purpose. Accreditation programs should seize the opportunity to elevate the care of all emergency department patients by setting the standard of every patients’ care being overseen by a physician.
AAEM will always work to ensure that emergency care is provided to all patients by board certified emergency physicians. AAEM cannot support any program that does not demand this standard of physician-lead care. We are hopeful for future opportunities to collaborate with other industry organizations on an accreditation program that ensures physician-lead care for all emergency department patients.
Originally Posted: May 27, 2026
Last Revised: N/A