Despite the Pandemic, CEDR Survives the Year 2020 with Flying Colors

Despite having braced ourselves for a potentially unfavorable 2020 year for CEDR in terms of engagement and finances, we are excited to report that the registry actually performed better than we could have ever imagined! All major indices are on track to meet their goals or have already exceeded their goals. The projected goal for number of implemented emergency department groups and number of submitted dashboards has been met and exceeded, and we are well on our way to meeting the projected 2021 goal of 700 participating emergency departments implemented (88%) and 20 million ED visits recorded (69%).

While participation was sluggish the first half of 2020, engagement picked up substantially over the past 6 months. This is an outstanding indicator of what is to come in 2021; it appears that emergency medicine practice is slowly but surely rebounding from the unimaginable year of 2020.

As we embrace a new year, we must remain vigilant about using CEDR to continue to support emergency medicine practice and quality reporting. Recognizing that the recovery phase of emergency medicine practice in terms of volume and revenue will likely be protracted and non-linear, now is the time for CEDR to continue to diligently communicate with its customers to determine and address their unique needs. To that end, while strides are being made, the number of practices that opted to put their CEDR participation on hold over the past few months is also notable. How do we ensure that these groups return before the end of the fiscal year? Might there need to be a customized approach taken to assist this cohort during these unprecedented times? We must ask and answer these types of questions in order to avoid any temptation to become stagnant and satiated, despite the hand we've been dealt by COVID-19. Instead, 2021 is the time to study and capitalize upon those factors that impacted CEDR's stellar performance despite the horror of Covid-19. Now is the time to push forward, be innovative, and build upon the lessons learned in 2020.