Newsletters

POSTED: April 21st, 2020
POSTED IN: EM Pulse - The Official Newsletter of MOCEP, March/April 2020,

Hi everyone-

I hope this update finds you well. These are definitely difficult times and anyone reading this is on the frontlines. I know we say this all the time, but we really are. Unlike other services that can come up with plans to figure out how not to see patients to limit/eliminate their exposures, we can only minimize our exposure but cannot eliminate it. So to that, I say thank you for all that you’re doing and please stay safe.

MOCEP has remained very busy the last few months. We’ve been hard at work regarding arbitrary downcoding. As some of you may know, we met with the directors of all the state Medicaid plans in January. In follow up to that meeting, as we believe their current practice is illegal, we hired a lawyer to review our meeting notes, current state law, and the Medicaid plans and to write a formal letter to the state Medicaid Director to stop this practice. Now in addition to Medicaid, commercial plans had planned to start arbitrary downcoding as well. UHC was set to start on April 1^st. We were in discussion with ACEP about what action could be taken regarding this. As of now, UHC has backed off on implementing their policy. We’re still in contact with ACEP about this, and if things change, we’ll revisit a potential action that could be taken. If you continue to have issues with arbitrary downcoding, please let us know.

We’ve also tried to distribute information about COVID to membership. ACEP has a great listserve but it honestly can be a bit overwhelming. I think I’ve had at least 20 emails from the listserve just as I’m writing this. As such, we’ve tried to be more concise. Through our EngagED platform and the website, there should be links for additional PPE, airway devices, and resources such as RVs or hotel rooms for physicians. While some of these are things we would not have posted in the past, given the current times, we are being more liberal in what we post in case the resources are useful to anyone. We also have stayed in touch with our legislators the best we can. Admittedly, this has been tricky with them being on a prolonged Spring Break and then closing the Capital. We were able to discuss shelter-in-place strategies with the Governor, who initiated a strategy earlier this month. We are also looking at legal reform. We had been working on general tort reform bills that did pass the Senate prior to COVID. We are hopeful that our tort legislation and the PDMP legislation will eventually pass through the House prior to the end of the legislative year. At this time, we are also part of a coalition that is working on additional protections for COVID related care during this time. Should this not work or things get worse, we’ll work on appealing directly to the Governor about an executive action.

While the purpose of this update was to let you all know what MOCEP was up to on your behalf, it occurs to me as I’m typing this, that this is likely my last President’s Update. While our Emergency Medicine Symposium is being postponed until November, we are still going to hold virtual elections for Board Positions and Councilors during a virtual Annual General Membership Meeting on May 20 at 5 p.m. Also, Dr. Christopher Sampson will be installed as the President of MOCEP next month. Congrats Chris! We have had a good interest in the open board and councilor positions and are excited about it. To stay in compliance with our bylaws, only those that attend the virtual Annual General Membership Meeting will be able to vote for the board and council positions so we encourage you to attend the virtual meeting so you can help choose the leaders of MOCEP. 

With that said, I do have to be a little reflective about the last two years as I finish writing this. I remember starting this journey soon after our downcoding legislation was passed and thinking, “Wow, the hard stuff is done. Now, I’ll just get to do whatever I want.” Well, while I couldn’t have been more wrong about that, we have had some time to focus on other goals. Last year, we sent out our first Annual Summary with plans to produce another one this summer. We also revamped our general membership meeting last year which was very successful. We had a really nice lineup of speakers and vendors with an abstract competition for residents ready to go next month but that will need to wait until November. We’ve continued to expand our membership and have regular meetings with administration at the Missouri Hospital Association and the Missouri State Medical Association as well as with legislators at the Capitol. So to our Executive Director, Sarah Luebbert; the rest of the Board of Directors; my boss at work, Dr. Brent Ruoff, who has been incredibly flexible with my schedule; and anyone else that has helped, thank you so much for your efforts and help over the last few years. It’s not only made my job easier but also possible.

Again, thank you to everyone for all you do on an everyday basis. If MOCEP can ever be of any assistance, please feel free to reach out. And as a reminder, our Board meetings are open to all members, so once things get back to normal, or near-normal, feel free to see how you can get involved.

Evan Schwarz, MD, FACEP, FACMT
President, MOCEP