The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) elected new board members and saw a new president assume his role at the group’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

The new president is Paul Kivela, MD, MBA, managing partner of the Napa Valley Emergency Medical Group in Napa, California, and medical director of Medic Ambulance in Vallejo, California. He was twice elected to the ACEP board, in 2010 and 2013, served as president of ACEP’s California chapter and chair of the group’s state legislation and regulation committees.

He indicated his tenure will continue the advocacy of his predecessor Becky Parker, MD, in opposing legislation or insurance company standards which may exclude emergency department visits from coverage.

“If a patient comes to the emergency department with the symptoms of a medical emergency, their insurance company should pay for that visit, even if the diagnosis turns out not to be an emergency,” Kivela said in a statement. “This standard—the prudent layperson standard, that is written into federal law—is currently under assault by the health insurance industry. Patients should not be forced to diagnose themselves out of fear their insurance won’t pay for it.”

John Rogers, MD, will be taking Kivela’s place as president-elect. He had served as ACEP’s board chair for the past year, along with being co-medical director of the emergency department at Coliseum Northside Hospital in Macon, Ga.

Along with Kivela, the ACEP meeting also elected several board members:

• Debra Perina, MD, was elected as the 2017-18 board chair. Perina serves as faculty in the emergency medicine department at the University of Virginia and has twice been elected to the board in 2013 and 2016.
• Vidor Friedman, MD, was elected as vice president for 2017-18, having previously served as the group’s secretary and treasurer. He’s currently managing partner and vice president for governmental affairs at Florida Emergency Physicians and an emergency physician at Florida Hospital in Orlando.
• Stephen Anderson, MD, was elected as secretary and treasurer for 2017-18. He’s currently an emergency physician at Auburn Medical Center in Auburn, Wash.
• New board members include Alison Haddock, MD, assistant professor of emergency medicine and director of health policy and advocacy at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and Aisha Liferidge, MD, Dr assistant professor for the department of emergency medicine at George Washington University’s (GWU) School of Medicine and Health Sciences.