EM Without Walls: Examining the Future of Acute Care Across Settings

The fifth annual 2025 Stanford Emergency Medicine Innovation Symposium (StEMI X) convened experts in emergency medicine innovation to explore advances in acute care delivery. Selected sessions are now available through the ACEP Anytime learning platform.

The expansion of acute care delivery

Emergency departments sit at the center of a fragmented care system, managing rising patient volumes, diagnostic uncertainty, and workforce strain. At the same time, acute care is increasingly delivered across multiple settings, from EMS and virtual platforms to hospital-at-home programs.

Innovation is accelerating across this continuum, but its value depends on whether it can safely support clinicians and patients wherever care happens. In the StEMI X keynote address, Eric Horvitz, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at Microsoft, framed the moment as a pivotal one for emergency medicine.

“We are riding an inflection upon an inflection in artificial intelligence, with new capabilities that have direct implications for emergency medicine.”

What happens today in the emergency department

Throughout the conference, speakers returned to the realities of frontline care: limited time, incomplete information, frequent interruptions, and high-stakes decisions. Technologies that function well in controlled environments may struggle when deployed across busy EDs or extended into homes and ambulances.

Sessions examined these challenges across the continuum, with discussions on AI-supported diagnosis, acute care telemedicine, wearable technologies, EMS integration, and strategies to improve throughput in capacity-constrained environments. Panelists focused on what it takes for innovation to remain reliable and safe as care moves across settings.

How innovation is being tested across the acute care continuum

Across the StEMI X program, speakers examined how innovation performs at every point along the acute care continuum—from pre-hospital care and the emergency department to virtual and in-home settings. The agenda paired a forward-looking keynote on artificial intelligence with concurrent sessions on remote patient monitoring, wearables, healthcare investing, and the practical challenges of implementation across diverse care environments.

Speakers emphasized that expanding emergency care beyond traditional walls requires more than new technology. During a session on wearables and remote monitoring, Jared Conley, MD, emergency physician and Associate Director of the MGH Healthcare Transformation Lab, underscored the importance of thoughtful deployment. “None of these wearables, in and of themselves, are the answer. The answer is the technology, the process, and the people, implemented in a way that truly impacts patients’ health."

What this means for patients and care teams

When innovation is grounded in clinical reality, patients benefit from safer, more timely, and more equitable care—whether they are seen by EMS, evaluated in the ED, or monitored at home after discharge. The conference highlighted efforts to improve diagnostic accuracy, reduce unnecessary ED visits, and support care teams across settings.

For clinicians, StEMI X reinforced that innovation is not separate from patient care, but a response to the challenges encountered at every touchpoint along the acute care journey.

How this approach could shape acute care

Although anchored at Stanford, the conference drew a global audience and featured speakers from across healthcare, academia, and industry. The ideas shared—and collaborations formed—reflect a growing recognition that the future of emergency medicine extends beyond physical walls.

The next Stanford Emergency Medicine Innovation Symposium (StEMI X) will take place in Fall 2026 - watch the StEMI X website for updates.