A Message from the NCCEP President

The annual Coastal Emergency Medicine Conference at Kiawah Island from June 14 – 16, 2019, this year delivered another memorable event, where many of our NCCEP members had an opportunity to hear from engaging speakers and to interact with NCCEP board members and fellow ACEP members from GA and SC.  The challenge offered to our members to attend one of the four NCCEP Board meetings by Immediate Past President Matt Sullivan seemed to have resonated with high attendance for the Board meeting on June 14.  I will extend the challenge to encourage our members to be engaged and attend a meeting, if not in person, then by conference call.    

 Our members continue to contact State and national policy makers rearding legislation that has direct impact for all involved in Emergency Medicine and is a constant threat to the quality of care and welfare to our patients. As many of you know, NCCEP has been on the forefront for our members to educate policy makers on the impacts of surprise billing for patients seeking care in emergency departments in our state.  We have been sharing the repercussions of allowing the State to fix the price for out of network services and the imbalance of power that would create for insurers by allowing them to set rates with little or no relation to the work involved in the medical care. NCCEP will continue to support legislation that provides a level playing field for physicians and insurers without using our patients as leverage stuck in the middle. The impact of these proposals not only affects our patients but also could lead to a tremendous decrease of emergency provider incomes.  In addition, there are many other topics that your Chapter is working on at a State level is actively working on this session on your behalf from physician barriers, public health, Medicaid transformation to mental health care, certificate of need, psychiatric boarding, opioid crisis, and procedural sedation – to name just a few. 

 NCCEP provides our members an opportunity to participate in many of these important issues by advocating on the state and national levels.  We take our message to the State capital in Raleigh every other April during the legislative long session to educate and advance our interests. The NCCEP leadership will then travel to Washington, DC in the spring to participate in the ACEP Leadership and Advocacy conference to make sure our Chapter interests are also supported on a national level.  If you would like to participate, I encourage you to reach out to our leadership.

 Our Chapter is strengthened by our many Committees that need your expertise and participation. These committees provide recommendations to our Board and help run the day-to-day activities of the College to assist you in providing better care for your patients. For minimal time commitment, your patients and colleagues will gain from your efforts on one of these committees:

 Bylaws Committee.  Analyzes ACEP Council Resolutions and makes recommendations to our Board of Directors, the committee also oversees the NCCEP bylaws by proposing amendments and making sure the bylaws reflect our current practice. 

 Education Committee. Assists with developing the curriculum for the Coastal Emergency Medical Conference in the summer with GA and SC ACEP and the Fall Meeting in Asheville.  Those that have a strong desire to have certain topics presented at the conferences or would like new content to be added can do so with involvement in this committee.

 EMS Committee. Ensures our EMS systems in state are providing best care and to highest national standards and assists the Board in creating and approving treatment protocols.

 Legislative Committee. Assists our lobbyist with information about emergency medicine and how legislation would impact our members. Also works on the Legislative Day in Raleigh and reviews bills of interest to NCCEP membership. This Committee would also work on regulatory issues in the State with various Agencies.   

 Membership/Communication Committee. Helps to deliver information regarding benefits and activities of the College to its members and retaining and seeking new members. Also assists with NCCEP website and EPIC publication. 

Reimbursement Committee. Monitors activity on the state and national level to maintain and improve payments and reimbursement to emergency physicians. Also works to provide information to our lobbyist about trends across the country.

 We hope you will participate in our conferences, the NCCEP fall conference, October 14 – 17, 2019, in beautiful Asheville, and the Coastal Emergency Medicine Conference, June 12-14, 2020, at Kiawah Island Golf Resort.

Sankalp Puri, MD, FACEP