ACEP Leads Call for CMS Guidance on Signage to Prevent Violence Against Health Care Workers

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and a coalition of health care organizations sent a letter urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to issue guidance that facilitates the posting of signage in emergency departments (EDs) discouraging violence. 

"Frontline health care professionals are attacked or threatened nearly every day as they do their jobs saving lives," said ACEP President L. Anthony Cirillo, MD, FACEP. "CMS guidance on signage is one step that would greatly improve protections for physicians, nurses and staff while promoting safe care environments."

CMS previously expressed concerns that signage could deter patients from seeking care, potentially violating the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires emergency departments to see and stabilize anyone, anytime. However, the agency has not yet defined appropriate signage parameters and continues to approach potential EMTALA violations on a case-by-case basis, hindering many facilities from posting signs.

ACEP and organizations representing nurses, pharmacists, hospitals and other health care groups, want to close that gap by requesting that CMS formalize guidelines for acceptable signage and develop materials to help facilities incorporate appropriate signage into the workplace.

"While many hospitals are investing in comprehensive workplace violence prevention programs to address these growing threats, the most basic element of prevention is often out of reach – that is, signage that sets expectations for respectful behavior and emphasizes that violence toward staff, patients, or visitors is unacceptable and could have consequences," the organizations said in their letter from Jan. 20.

Nine in 10 emergency physicians have been threatened or attacked on the job, according to ACEP member polling. ACEP is leading a comprehensive, multi-year campaign to strengthen protections for health care workers that includes strong support for legislation that would make assaulting a health care worker a federal crime, such as the bipartisan Save Healthcare Workers Act, a checklist for emergency physicians to discuss elements of a safe workplace with hospital administration, personal stories directly from the frontlines, ED accreditation criteria that require hospitals to address ED violence, and the No Silence on ED Violence campaign with the Emergency Nurses Association.

The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is the national medical society representing emergency medicine. Through continuing education, research, public education, and advocacy, ACEP advances emergency care on behalf of its 40,000 emergency physician members, and the more than 150 million people they treat on an annual basis. For more information, visit www.acep.org and www.emergencyphysicians.org.

SOURCE American College of Emergency Physicians