Acute care congress on the future of emergency surgical care in the United States

Abstract

Background: Multiple factors are contributing to overcrowded emergency departments and decreased patient access to emergency surgical care in the United States.

Methods: Under the leadership of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma and the Centers for Disease Control, 15 national medical organizations came together in August 2008 for the Acute Care Congress on the Future of Emergency Surgical Care in the United States. The aim was to discuss the problems facing access to emergency surgical care and to propose an action plan for addressing them.

Results: Proposed solutions included ways to add to the dwindling surgical workforce, to more efficiently handle the rising public demand for emergency surgical services, to attempt to increase federal reimbursements and other payments for emergency surgical care, and to overcome limitations of existing laws on emergency care.

Conclusions: Organizations affected by the problems with emergency surgical care should work together to set and augment the standard of emergency care in the United States. Joint efforts should include advocacy for legislative reform and additional governmental funding, development of national guidelines that will determine best practices for emergency surgical care, and increased research aimed at trauma prevention. Additionally, regional trauma systems should be integrated into a nationwide system that, ideally, encompasses nontrauma emergency surgical care.