Emergency Management in the Physician-owned Practice Setting

Abstract

Emergency response to disasters can be done well only when we are prepared to manage such eventualities.  This focus paper will review the historical context of emergency management (EM) in the United States, the lead agencies providing EM leadership, the phases of EM, the CMS Emergency Preparedness Final Rule, data related to physician practice ownership and employment, the value of an emergency operations plan for physician-owned medical practices, and the training media and other resources which can provide supportive planning guidance to practice administrators.  For this project an extensive literature survey of related topics was undertaken, including MGMA articles, documents and fellowship papers, CMS guidelines, Federal and state agency resources, and academic and commercial journals, texts and websites specific to EM.  The goal of this paper is to instill an appreciation and improved understanding of such issues, since the author anticipates that CMS will eventually apply requirements similar to those in the Final Rule to physician-owned practices.