The information below is an introduction to the SAEM Consultation Service. Additional questions or inquiries may be addressed to the Executive Director or Consultation Service Chair.

Institutional Guide to the Individual SAEM Consulting Service

 

A. Services Offered:

1. Development and initiation of new residencies in Emergency Medicine has been the traditional focus of the Consultation Service. This area of activity for the Consultation Service will continue, based on demand.
2. Consultation for existing Emergency Medicine residency programs is another important service. Its goal is to provide a site visit and broad external review of a program by a consultation team, or to address a specific RRC-EM citation, probationary status, or intractable institutional problem.
3. Consultation in additional areas of Emergency Medicine:
   1. Faculty Development: Organization of faculty development programs remains a pressing need in our specialty. It remains an often cited deficiency in residency programs.
   2. Research Consultations: Providing expertise in the development of a research program and strategic research plan; devising strategies for developing support and resources for research.
   3. Undergraduate Education: Providing expertise to divisions/departments in the development of quality undergraduate education offerings in EM.
   4. Simulation (Technology in Medical Education): Experts in the field of simulation and other technologies for training and assessment will provide consultation on how to establish, fund, and deploy these powerful tools for medical education.

 

B. Intake Procedures for Consults

 

Current points of contact for the SAEM Consultation Service are Barbara Mulder, Associate Executive Director SAEM, and Wallace A. Carter, M.D., Chair of the Service. The Chair will conduct an initial intake discussion with individuals and programs wishing to consider the usefulness of the service for their specific institutions. Following the initial discussion, a letter with information regarding the consult service will be sent to inquiring parties. Formal request for consultation from an institution should follow in writing. In general, six to eight weeks notice is required to schedule a visit, to allow for coordination of calendars between consultants and key institutional leaders. Requesting programs will provide at least two potential dates for the consultation satisfactory to the institution (dates when key parties are available), and the consulting service will attempt to arrange for consultants to visit on one of these dates.

 

C. Procedures/Criteria for Selection of Consultants:

 

In general, two consultants will be selected to participate in each consultation. One may be sent if requested by the institution or if only a Program Information Form (PIF) review is requested. For residency related consultations, SAEM usually will provide an experienced residency director, a chair of an academic department, or Emergency Medicine faculty with significant administrative and leadership experience to conduct the review. For consultation in other areas, or for a focused review in a narrow area requiring the unique expertise of an individual, one or two consultants may be selected with talents in the domain of the consultation.

 

Criteria for selection of consultants includes the following:

• Prospective consultants have been in their current position/role (clinical operations, research director or established program, residency director, departmental chair, or senior administration) for at least two years.
• Prospective consultants have participated in an RRC-EM or JCAHO review at their home institution in their present role.
• Prior experience as a specialist site visitor for the RRC-EM, peer review of an academic department or EM chair, or on-site review for other accrediting bodies is desirable.
• To the extent possible, matching the expertise and background of the consultant to the nature and problem, of the institution will be attempted in the selection of consultants for specific site visits.

 

D. Pre-consultation Information and Documents for Consultants

 

In general, the consultants and the parties requesting consultation should discuss and agree on key information and documents to be provided for review in advance of consultation. It is recognized that the documents require for effective consultation will vary greatly from institution to institution, and from situation to situation.

• Minimum documentation for reviews involving new Emergency Medicine residency program applications should include the most recent residency application to the RRC-EM and any RRC-EM correspondence. Documentation for programs requesting a "mock site visit" for an upcoming RRC-EM program review should include a near final version of the upcoming application and most recent RRC-EM correspondence.
• For programs responding to specific citations and probationary status following accreditation review, a copy of recent RRC-EM correspondence (or from the appropriate accrediting body, the institutions response, and most recent application materials.
• For institutions with specific intractable problems, specific correspondence and written materials referable to the situation to be addressed.
• For Research consults, documents might include a strategic research plan (if one exists), summary of research resources and budgets, and a summary of ongoing departmental research initiatives.
• For Faculty Development and Undergraduate Education consults, documents might include information detailing the specific area of operations, and specific correspondence and written materials referable to the situation to be addressed.

Information should be provided to the consultants at least two weeks in advance of the consultation.

 

E. Travel Arrangements

 

Air and ground transportation arrangements may be made by either the consultants themselves, or by the consulting party if this is agreed to between the institution and the consultant(s). Advance (eq 2-3 weeks) coach airfare costs is standard practice for consultant airfare expense. Local arrangements, including ground transportation, hotel accommodations, and meals, will be arranged by the consulting party. These arrangements may be paid at the time of the visit by the consulting party, or expensed to the consultant for later reimbursement. Hotel information should be provided to the consultants in advance for planning purposes.

 

F. Fees and Reimbursements

 

In general, when two consultants are employed for a 24 hours consultation, SAEM Consultation Service fees are $4,500, plus travel and local expenses for the consultants. A $1,500.00 honorarium will be provided to each consultant, and $1,500 will be provided to SAEM to offset SAEM's expenses and administrative time devoted to the consultation service. For consultations requiring different configurations of consultants and time frames, fee structures will be individually negotiated between the consulting party and the Consultation Service. The fee shall cover the travel and support expenses for the consultant(s), honorarium amount, and overhead support for SAEM proportional to the fee for the consultation.

 

Consultants will provide receipts for expenses (i.e. airfare, parking, unreimbursed meals) to SAEM, who will reimburse consultants for expenses and honorarium. Following the site visit and receipt of expenses, SAEM will bill the requesting institution the appropriate fee for honoraria and expenses.

 

G. Consultation Reports:

 

Initial reports will be completed and submitted to the Chair and consulting party within two weeks of the consultation date. Responsibilities in drafting reports: For residency consultations, the junior consultant shall undertake the responsibility for drafting the written consultation report. The other consultant (academic chair or faculty with leadership/administrative experience) will be responsible for review, comment and suggested revision of the draft report.

 

For other areas of consultation, arrangements for drafting the report will be negotiated between the individual consultants.

 

Routing of draft and final reports: The consultation report may be made on either SAEM stationary or on the consultant's institutional stationary, with mention in the text that the consultation reports are the activity of the SAEM Consultation Service. Following final input from all consultants, the Chair of the consulting service and the requesting party, the final report shall be provided to the institution within four (4) weeks. Copies of the final report will be provided to the requesting parties, both consultants, and to SAEM headquarters.

 

H. Post Consultation Survey and Follow-Up

 

A short (one to two page) post-consultation survey will be provided to the requesting party within one month after the consultation report is completed and submitted. This survey will request feedback on overall satisfaction with consultation and specific elements including: meeting of objectives, professional value, skills of the individual consultants, satisfaction with consult format, and appropriateness of the written report.