ACEP Receives Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative Award From CMS

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is one of 39 health care organizations selected to participate in the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative (TCPI), announced today by Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell.

ACEP will receive up to $3 million over 4 years to provide technical assistance to help equip clinicians nationwide with tools, information and network support to improve quality of care, increase patients' access to information and spend health care dollars wisely.

"Supporting doctors and other health care professionals change the way they work is critical to improving quality and spending our health care dollars more wisely," said Secretary Burwell.  "These awards will give patients more of the information they need to make informed decisions about their care and give clinicians access to information and support to improve care coordination and quality outcomes."

"ACEP is a perfect partner to participate in this critical effort to improve quality and reduce costs for emergency patients," said Dr. Mike Gerardi, president of ACEP. "Emergency physicians are dedicated to providing the best care for their patients, and this grant is designed to improve early identification and treatment of patients with sepsis, reduce hospitalizations and improve emergency care for patients with chest pain, and support clinicians implementing ACEP's Choosing Wisely recommendations."

As a Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative (TCPI) Support and Alignment Network (see definition below), ACEP will support up to 34,000 clinicians to expand their quality improvement capacity, learn from one another, and achieve common goals of improved care, better health and reduced cost. The network will lead quality improvement learning projects to help clinicians reduce costs and improve patient care.   

These awards are part of a comprehensive strategy advanced by the Affordable Care Act that enables new levels of coordination, continuity, and integration of care, while transitioning volume-driven systems to value-based, patient-centered, health care services.  This award builds on work that ACEP is doing to improve value through projects, such as its Clinical Emergency Data Registry (CEDR), Choosing Wisely initiative and Geriatric Emergency Department Guidelines.

"Emergency medicine plays a critical role in the nation's health care system, and we are excited to lead this important effort," said Dr. Gerardi. "We are the only medical providers available 24/7, and more than 130 million patients depend on us each year. ACEP is eager to lead this important effort to help improve their care and the coordination of their care.

The project will be co-led by Arjun K. Venkatesh, MD MBA, MHS, of Yale University School of Medicine and Jeremiah D. Schuur, MD, MHS, FACEP, of Brigham and Women's Hospital.

"We are excited and honored to work with ACEP to provide emergency departments and emergency providers with innovative solutions, including toolkits, online continuing medical education, benchmarking data and social media communities to accelerate practice transformation that distinguishes the role of the emergency department in our health care system," said Dr. Schuur.  "ACEP has brought together leaders from across emergency medicine into the SAN and will be supported by our new clinical emergency department registry [CEDR]."

For more information on the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative, please visit: http://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/Transforming-Clinical-Practices/

CMS defines TCPI Support and Alignment Networks as providing "a system for workforce development using national and regional professional associations and public-private partnerships that are currently working in practice transformation efforts. Utilizing existing and emerging tools (e.g., continuing medical education, maintenance of certification, core competency development) these networks will help ensure sustainability of these efforts. These will especially support the recruitment of clinician practices serving small, rural and medically underserved communities and play an active role in the alignment of new learning."

ACEP is the national medical specialty society representing emergency medicine. ACEP is committed to advancing emergency care through continuing education, research and public education. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, ACEP has 53 chapters representing each state, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. A Government Services Chapter represents emergency physicians employed by military branches and other government agencies. 

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SOURCE American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP)

Related Links

http://www.acep.org