Other Activities
- Health literacy
The AMA recognizes that limited patient literacy is a barrier to medical diagnosis and treatment and therefore has provided health literacy toolkits, sponsored special events and created an extensive grant program that has funded dozens of community-based health literacy programs throughout the United States. - Older Driver Safety
Program assists physicians in making driver safety a routine part of their geriatric medical services. - Fight BAC!™ Food-borne Illnesses Patient Handout
This patient education pamphlet teaches patients how to avoid foodborne illnesses. - Atlas of the human body
Anatomy and medical illustrations to enhance your patient education sessions.
Acute Respiratory Tract Infection Guideline Summaries
The California Medical Association Foundation's Alliance Working for Antibiotic Resistance Education (AWARE) project has created the Acute Respiratory Tract Infection Guideline Summary for Adults and Pediatrics.
Patient Education
In the quest for improved patient safety, the "5 Steps to Safer Health Care" offers patients evidence-based, practical tips on ways to help improve the safety of the care that they receive.
Other Patient Safety Resources
- The National Patient Safety Foundation. In 1996, the AMA partnered with CNA HealthPro, 3M, and the Schering-Plough Corporation to found the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF). The NPSF Web site offers patient safety education, information, products and tools for physicians, nurses, professional healthcare providers, patients and families.
- The National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS) Department of Veterans' Affairs offers information on human factor analysis and safety in high reliability organizations (aviation and nuclear power).
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) ] AHRQ supports research on health care systems, health care quality and cost issues, access to health care, and effectiveness of medical treatments. It provides evidence-based information on health care outcomes and quality of care.
AMA Physician Resources
- Medication safety disposal guide
- Medication safety checklist
- The patient-physician relationship: A partnership for better health care and safer outcomes
- Internet resources for patient health and safety
- Health literacy and patient safety
- Medication Safety and Reconciliation
- Quality and Measurement
- Public Health
- Medical Education
- Patient safety archived webinars - Features experts in various fields who address
- Filling the gaps in health professions' education and training in patient safety
- Safety as a team sport
- Melding "Meaningful use" with meaningful patient safety improvements
- Patient safety archived webinars - Features experts in various fields who address
- Advocacy - Patient Safety, Patient Safety Act and Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs)
- CME
Communication: Strengthening the Safety Net
Putting your patients on the health care team strengthens patient safety strategies and reinforces the safety net. A strong safety strategy recognizes and respects the patient’s perspective and the degree patients wish to engage in their care; invites and encourages patients and their families to play an active role in their care; and ensures patients can understand and use health information to safely manage their care.
AMA patient communication and engagement tools aim to support and strengthen your safety strategies in all settings of care and at critical junctures of care (e.g., hospital discharge).
AMA Patient Resources
- Medication safety disposal guide
- Medication safety checklist
- Internet resources for patient health and safety
Hospital Dress Codes for the Reduction of Health Care-associated Infection Transmission of Disease
AMA Board of Trustees (BOT) adopted recommendations in BOT Report 3 for Hospital Dress Codes
At its June 2010 Annual House of Delegates meeting, the AMA Board of Trustees (BOT) adopted the recommendations in BOT Report 3 - Hospital Dress Codes for the Reduction of Health Care-associated Infection Transmission of Disease
Board of Trustees Report 3 recommends that the AMA
- encourage research in textile transmission of health care-associated infections (HAI);
- encourage testing and validation of research results before advocating for adoption of dress code policies that may not achieve reduction of health care-associated infections (HAI);
- reaffirm AMA Policy H-440.907, "Hand Washing," that urges not only professionals but the public, to adopt hand washing as an important personal priority;
- encourage all clinicians to assume “antimicrobial stewardship,” i.e., adherence to evidence-based solutions and best practices to reduce health care-acquired infections (HAI) and HAI infection rates; and
- encourage all clinicians when seeing patients to wear attire that is clean, unsoiled, and appropriate to the setting of care.
