Practice Rights

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 […]

The American Academy of Emergency Medicine is concerned with the increased frequency of interruptions occurring during clinical care in the emergency department; especially during high-risk times. Interruptions are a major patient safety issue which may lead to adverse clinical outcomes. Interruptions during patient sign out, consultations, resuscitations, charting, and order entry should be minimized. While […]

These recommendations by ACP are free, non-specialty specific and promote removing obstacles and distractions from providing actual care and improving quality of health care. These recommendations can be referenced by AAEM members for use in their home institutions with a goal of putting clinical care first and improving work-life balance.    View the position paper […]

Emergency physicians have the responsibility for all emergency patients’ care and disposition — including which patients require involuntary holds. The regulations concerning psychiatric holds or detainments vary from state to state. Some states require that law enforcement places a patient in an involuntary hold status without physician input. EPs should have the responsibility for patient […]

Medical scribes should be considered ancillary staff members employed to assist the emergency physician with data entry and documentation requirements. Their function should be to free the emergency physician to focus on clinical duties.  All information entered or generated in a health care record by a medical scribe should be reviewed for accuracy by the treating […]

Emergency physician contracts should not include indemnification or “hold harmless” agreements regarding the hospital or practice site. These agreements unfairly shift risk to emergency physicians and this risk is not generally insurable.   Published: 2/10/12  

AAEM WHITE PAPER ON RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS A Policy Paper of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine J Emerg Med 2006; 30:473-475 Larry D. Weiss, MD, JD, FAAEM Professor of Emergency Medicine University of Maryland School of Medicine Approved with revisions by the American Academy of Emergency Medicine Board of Directors at its July 16, 2007, […]

AAEM WHITE PAPER ON DUE PROCESS RIGHTS FOR PHYSICIANS J Emerg Med 2007; 33:439-440 Larry D. Weiss, MD, JD, FAAEM Professor of Emergency Medicine University of Maryland School of Medicine Approved with revisions by the American Academy of Emergency Medicine Board of Directors, May 15, 2007 INTRODUCTION The American Academy of Emergency Medicine (hereinafter AAEM) […]

DATE: May, 2006 SUBMITTED BY: Nancy Bonalumi, RN, MS, CEN; ENA President Tom Scaletta, MD FAAEM; AAEM President It is ideal for emergency nurses and physicians to practice in an optimal working environment where, working as a team, we can provide safe and excellent emergency patient care. Inappropriate behavior disrupts the operations of the emergency […]

WHEREAS covenants-not-to-compete restrict competition, disrupt continuity of care, and potentially deprive the public of medical services,1 and WHEREAS the American Medical Association Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs discourages such covenants-not-to-compete,1 and WHEREAS covenants-not-to-compete exist in derogation of the Constitutional right to live, travel, and practice one's trade or profession wherever one pleases,2 and WHEREAS covenants-not-to-compete have been […]

I confirm/certify that all of the following are true: With the provisional period not to exceed one year, our physician group provides our emergency physicians access to predefined due process. Our physician group, or its controlling entity, has a predefined mechanism that regularly and automatically provides all our emergency physicians the detail of their own […]

AAEM recognizes the right of employee emergency physicians to organize into collective bargaining units under the auspices of the National Labor Relations Board. AAEM acknowledges the presence of certain practice issues, such as economic exploitation and termination without cause, that may prompt the formation of unions in emergency medicine. We support AAEM members who form […]

Medicare, Medicaid and many third-party health care insurers expect the individual physician to be aware of what is being billed for services on their behalf. The individual physician can be held liable for fraudulent claims even if the claim was submitted on their behalf by an employer or a billing entity and not personally reviewed […]