President's MessageFebruary 2025
The new year is well underway, as is the 89th Texas Legislative Session. For many, this may not be the most notable part of the year to have on the calendar, but your leaders at TCEP are hard at work monitoring bills, blocking, supporting, and actively introducing legislation to help our specialty and our patients. TCEP CONNECT 2025 Annual Conference & Hill Day, taking place April 13-15th provides the perfect opportunity to come to Austin and get up to speed on these issues affecting emergency medicine in Texas and to actually move the needle with your presence during our Texas Capitol visits. Politics and legislation can be daunting, but I cannot overemphasize the importance of your participation at some level in the process. Back in 2015 as an attending of eight years, I completed the TCEP Leadership and Advocacy Fellowship program (TLAF) and experienced first-hand the enormous amount of work that goes on “behind the scenes” to allow us to be at the bedside with our patients. Much of this boils down to policy at the state and federal levels. As physicians who actually take direct care of patients, our broader involvement beyond the bedside is ultimately what will determine if we have a fulfilling and sustainable practice that is safe and beneficial for our community. One’s level of involvement will naturally change throughout a career with life’s ebbs and flows, but it’s never too late to foster a habit of paying attention and participating even if only with brief moments at a time. The more we can all take advantage of meetings like TCEP CCONNECT where we come together from our diverse backgrounds as emergency physicians and share our stories, create new relationships and foster old ones, the stronger we become as a specialty. Now, talking to legislators is not everyone’s cup of tea, but being informed on the issues we face is essential. Change is real, and the emergency medicine of 50 years ago is sure to be vastly different from that of 50 years from now. It can be difficult for those of us who may have found comfort in our groups or hospitals to see that all of it could change…or is changing. The challenges we face from for-profit insurance companies constantly trying to pay less for the care we provide are immense. They would like nothing more than for physicians to squabble amongst themselves about our practice models while they assume control of healthcare systems, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmacies, and ultimately physician practices. The thought of being employed by a health insurance plan as an emergency physician while in my mind grotesque, completely unethical and outright dangerous for our patients that once may have seemed outlandish is not impossible. The only way to chart our own course in emergency medicine is to be at the table with a strong and unified voice. TCEP’s 2,100+ members come from across the spectrum, urban to rural, small group to large, community to academic. Our diverse lived experiences give us strength when we come together. In residency we were taught to keep our eyes, ears and minds open in order to see the entire patient and provide the best care. “Don’t just do something, stand there” works well for taking control of a chaotic resuscitation in the ED, but as a specialty, we’ve been standing there. Now it’s time to do something. Come to TCEP CONNECT! Join the TCEP Government Relations Committee. Become a TLAF. Give regularly to EMPACT (or any PAC that supports physicians caring for patients for that matter). Attend ACEP’s Legislative and Advocacy Conference. Talk to your partners about how they can actively improve our specialty with their involvement. Foster and grow your network by showing up and being involved. We are stronger together, and there is no substitute for meeting in person to solidify our shared desire and future ability to care for the members of our community as we do, whoever they may be, regardless of ability to pay, 24/7/365. Thank you all for what you do. See you in April! |
