Position Statements

The American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) supports the safe staffing of emergency departments (EDs) and the right of patients to be seen by a board-certified emergency physician. Recent literature suggests that emergency physicians believe that balancing the priorities of clinical productivity, safe staffing, and appropriate supervision permits them to see an estimated 1.5-3 patients […]

The American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) has noted recent actions taken by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Since our inception 30 years ago, AAEM and the emergency physicians we represent have partnered with HHS in delivering quality emergency medical care. However, HHS is eliminating the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality […]

The American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) upholds the highest standards of patient care, emphasizing medical ethics and the physician-patient relationship. Emergency physicians must act in patients’ best interests, respecting patient autonomy, beneficence and the duty to provide the best possible patient care. This statement addresses concerns about law enforcement requests, even with court orders, […]

In November of 2024 AAEM issued the following statement when NES announced they would cease operations AAEM believes that National Emergency Services Health’s (NES) failure to pay its physicians for the past month constitutes contract abandonment, significantly disrupting safe patient care. To prevent ED closures, hospital CEOs are advised to pay their physicians and provide […]

AAEM believes that National Emergency Services Health’s (NES) failure to pay its physicians for the past month constitutes contract abandonment, significantly disrupting safe patient care. To prevent ED closures, hospital CEOs are advised to pay the physician and provide professional liability insurance. Also, the American Academy of Emergency Medicine Physician Group (AAEM-PG) is fully prepared […]

The following statement was created by the Women in Emergency Medicine Section (WiEMS-AAEM). It was approved by the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) Board of Directors on Monday, September 30, 2024. In the two years since the Dobbs vs. Jackson decision, the ability to care for pregnant persons is no longer uniform across the […]

The American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) and the AAEM Resident and Student Association notes that AB 3129, a California bill which limits health system consolidation, was recently amended in the Senate.  The AAEM strongly supported the original version of AB 3129. The bill, as first drafted, would improve the enforcement of California’s prohibition on […]

The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) has recently announced an accreditation program to recognize emergency departments (EDs) that adhere to independently developed standards, with applications opening soon. While establishing an ED accreditation program is commendable, its dual goal must be to enhance patient care and advocate for emergency physicians (EPs). Without thorough planning and […]

The following statement was created by the AAEM Rural Medicine Interest Group (RMIG). It was approved by the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) Board of Directors on Saturday, April 27, 2024. Critical access and rural hospitals serve as a lifeline for the communities that they serve. Emergency departments in rural areas are often the only […]

The following statement was created by the AAEM Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI-AAEM) and Women in Emergency Medicine (WiEM-AAEM) Sections. It was approved by the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) Board of Directors on Saturday, April 27, 2024. The American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) believes that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are […]

The American Academy of Emergency Medicine affirms the right to strike by emergency physicians at Ascension St John’s Hospital in Detroit and supports the physicians in their attempts to bargain for a fair contract that addresses their concerns about their clinical practice environment created by the corporate practice of medicine. AAEM is committed to ensuring […]

Last year, The American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) and the AAEM Resident and Student Association (AAEM/RSA) proudly signed on, with eight other emergency medicine organizations, to the All EM DEI Vision Statement. In the wake of the Anti-DEI Medical Education Legislation, the Embracing Anti-Discrimination, Unbiased Curriculum, and Advancing Truth in Education  (EDUCATE) act (H.R.7725); […]

The following statement was created by the AAEM Young Physicians (YPS-AAEM) and Women in Emergency Medicine (WiEM-AAEM) Sections. It was approved by the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) Board of Directors on Thursday, February 22, 2024. Background: Emergency physicians work in hospital settings that provide patient care at all hours of the day, which […]

The American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) recently released a public statement in response to an announcement that a nurse practitioner was accepted into an Emergency Medicine Ultrasound Fellowship program.  We were specifically responding to the original statement by the program which when released stated, “his appointment as the ‘first-ever’ APRN to the Point-of-Care Ultrasound […]

The American Academy of Emergency Medicine strives daily to live our mission statement.  Multiple parts of this statement refer to our strong and unwavering belief that all people must be treated equally with respect and without discrimination in any form. Current geopolitical events, most recently in the Middle East, but also in many other parts […]

The American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) is dismayed to hear the news of the planned closure of the CHRISTUS Spohn Emergency Medicine Residency Program in Texas. Reports are that this decision was made by the CHRISTUS Spohn administration for financial reasons and without the involvement of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program leadership or of […]

The following statement was approved by the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) Board of Directors concerning the graduate medical education (GME) response to resident discrimination on Thursday, September 7, 2023. The American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) believes that increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of emergency medicine is necessary to provide […]

On September 21, 2023, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that they filled suit against private-equity backed, physician-staffing company U.S. Anesthesia Partners, Inc. (USAP) in Texas. The FTC’s complaint alleges that USAP and Welsh Carson’s “multi-year anticompetitive scheme to consolidate anesthesia practices in Texas, drive up the price of anesthesia services provided to Texas patients, […]

The prohibition on the corporate practice of medicine is intended to prevent non-physicians from interfering with or influencing the physician’s professional judgment*. The intent is to keep the business interest out of the patient-physician relationship. In Emergency Medicine the need for these controls is heightened as we encounter vulnerable patients who may not have adequate […]

The American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) believes that emergency department (ED) physicians should have timely and unencumbered access to services collected in their name. The code of federal regulations (CFR) §424.80 mandates that, in such circumstances when a physician assigns the responsibility of billing (e.g. to an employer, external vendor) for reimbursable services rendered […]

The American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) believes that emergency department (ED) patients should have timely and unencumbered access to care led by board certified emergency physicians (ABEM or AOBEM). AAEM and AAEM/RSA advocate for and support federal and state policy change to ensure that patients know who will provide their care in the emergency […]

AAEM Position Statement on the Practice of Observation Medicine Observation units and the use observation status have increased in utilization over the past several years. The “two-midnight rule” combined with ED overcrowding, more complicated care coordination work, and the payer pressures have resulted in an increase in observation stays. Patients on observation status are not […]

AAEM Excited Delirium Statement

The American Academy of Emergency Medicine Emergency Medical Services Section (EMSS-AAEM) strongly opposes the proposed changes to the current National Registry of EMTs (NREMT) accreditation requirements. The current proposal, as written, would allow state agencies to determine eligibility criteria for NREMT certification. These state agencies would not be required to follow any nationally approved standards, […]

The following statement was approved by the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) and the American Academy of Emergency Medicine Resident and Student Association (AAEM/RSA) Board of Directors concerning the United States Supreme Court decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health issued on Friday, June 24, 2022. The AAEM Women in Emergency […]