Legislative Updates

POSTED: September 18th, 2024
POSTED IN: ACEP, forum, Forum Topic, Legislative Updates,

On September 16, 2024, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to mandate that hospitals create and enact plans to address the issue of boarding in emergency departments. Boarding, where patients wait in the emergency department for inpatient beds to become available, has been identified by ACEP as a significant public health crisis arising from systemic health system delays and dysfunction, leading to adverse patient outcomes including increased mortality, ambulance diversion, and staff burnout among others. ACEP’s proposal suggests updating the emergency services Condition of Participation to include the mandate for addressing boarding, emphasizing the need for a collaborative approach across the healthcare continuum to tackle the root causes of boarding and improve patient care. The initiative is part of ACEP’s broader campaign to address emergency department boarding issues. Read the full ACEP article here.