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AAEM Chapter Division Updates: Tennessee
James Parnell, MD FAAEM–President, TNAAEM
The Tennessee Chapter Division of AAEM (TNAAEM) has had a busy and exciting last year. Our membership is representative of emergency medicine across the state from medical students to long tenured, national physician leaders. It is my pleasure to highlight some recent activities and successes of our chapter division.
Advocacy
TNAAEM has a long history of being engaged in legislative issues and government affairs, and we have worked to keep that momentum. Throughout 2020, we actively worked at the state and federal level to influence balanced billing legislation in an attempt to be the champion of the emergency physician. Along with an official TNAAEM press release, multiple TNAAEM board members have penned several op-eds that have run in all of the major newspapers across the state of Tennessee. Through their effect on Senator Lamar Alexander, these positively changed the federal legislation that became law as the No Surprises Act. Our correspondence and meetings with state legislators and the Tennessee Medical Association resulted in the filing of Senate Bill 1, putting the insurance industry on the defensive in regards to surprise billing legislation for the first time in our state. We have had correspondence and meetings with many of our elected leaders. Our TNAAEM membership and leadership have stepped up to insure that the voice of the emergency physician is heard regarding this issue. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly challenged emergency physicians across our state and nation. Tennessee never had a statewide mask mandate and messaging about masking importance was not a consistent priority. Several of our TNAAEM members engaged Governor Bill Lee and fellow Tennesseans about the importance of masking to prevent the spread of COVID-19, helping emergency physicians manage the surges of COVID-19 patients. As our president, I had
the chance to make several news media appearances across the state to promote public health through masking and COVID-19 education. TNAAEM stood up for emergency physicians and contributed to a successful response to COVID-19.
Membership
Our chapter division currently has over 150 members. Although our biannual Residency Day and conference in 2020 was cancelled because of the pandemic, we have worked to sustain and engage our membership. Two of our state’s EM residency programs have 100% membership in AAEM and TNAAEM. We will continue to be an advocate for the youngest of our emergency physicians, as we face issues such as excess workforce issues and corporate influence. Our board will continue to listen to young emergency physicians and attempt to better our specialty.
Leadership
Many TNAAEM members actively serve on committees and boards at the national AAEM level; including the Wellness Committee, Women in EM Section, the Palliative Care Interest Group, and the AAEM Physician Group; and we are proud that several of these members have taken leadership roles at the national level. To highlight a few, Dr. Andy Walker is Treasurer of AAEM-PG and co-chair the AAEM Government & National Affairs Committee with another TNAAEM member, Dr. Kevin Beier. Dr. Mark Reiter is now the CEO of AAEM-PG, and Dr. Arthur Smolensky serves on its Board of Directors. Additionally, Dr. Corey McNeilly, PGY-1 at the University of Tennessee-Nashville, is our TNAAEM Resident Representative and also serves as the secretary and Treasurer for the AAEM Resident and Student Association. Our chapter division is fortunate to have many long-standing leaders within AAEM who continue to mentor and grow our specialty. I take great pride in serving as the President of the Tennessee Chapter Division of AAEM. Our chapter division is fortunate to have so many great physicians and leaders who want to carry out the mission of AAEM, keeping it the Champion of the Emergency Physician.
