Greetings from Denver

Last week I had the opportunity to speak to the Colorado ACEP Chapter at their annual meeting in Denver. It was a pleasure to meet with the chapter members and hear their concerns for and about emergency medicine. The Colorado chapter has 490 members and about 40 of them are active leaders in national ACEP. Their concerns mirror those of many other areas of the country and include crowded emergency departments, lack of on-call specialists, and declining reimbursement. Fortunately, they have a decent professional liability environment for the time being.

I presented an ACEP update to the chapter, and we had an energetic discussion of national healthcare reforms, the ACEP Foundation, the new consumer magazine, and the national legislative agenda. We ended the day with a tour of Coors Field, the home of the Colorado Rockies. Our tour coincided with the press conference announcing that shortstop Troy Tulowitzki had signed a record-31-million-dollar-six-year contract. It seems that being in the World Series is good for the local economy.

Perhaps there are lessons to be learned from professional sports………..

In any case, it was a wonderful chapter visit, and I appreciate the hospitality of the Colorado chapter.