Health

AMA continues efforts to improve medical response to disasters

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 10, 2006

Print  |   Email  |   Respond  |   Reprints  |   Like Facebook  |   Share Twitter  |   Tweet Linkedin

The American Medical Association will produce a manual on state licensure and medical liability coverage for physicians providing care in the aftermath of a disaster. The AMA also will work with relief organizations to improve plans and protocols for supplying health care in mass evacuation shelters. To address needs of physicians who also might be victimized by these events, the Association will develop planning tools to make it easier for doctors to recover records and resume their practices, according to policy adopted at the AMA Annual Meeting in Chicago last month.

These actions are being taken to enhance the ability of physicians to cope with catastrophes such as Hurricane Katrina that devastated the Gulf Coast in August 2005.

"Hurricane Katrina was a painful lesson in the importance of disaster preparedness and response," said AMA Trustee J. James Rohack, MD. "The new AMA policy will take the necessary steps to secure a solid disaster response plan and prepare Americans for the unexpected."

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/07/10/hlbf0710.htm.

Back to top


ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISE HERE


Featured
Read story

Confronting bias against obese patients

Medical educators are starting to raise awareness about how weight-related stigma can impair patient-physician communication and the treatment of obesity. Read story


Read story

Goodbye

American Medical News is ceasing publication after 55 years of serving physicians by keeping them informed of their rapidly changing profession. Read story


Read story

Policing medical practice employees after work

Doctors can try to regulate staff actions outside the office, but they must watch what they try to stamp out and how they do it. Read story


Read story

Diabetes prevention: Set on a course for lifestyle change

The YMCA's evidence-based program is helping prediabetic patients eat right, get active and lose weight. Read story


Read story

Medicaid's muddled preventive care picture

The health system reform law promises no-cost coverage of a lengthy list of screenings and other prevention services, but some beneficiaries still might miss out. Read story


Read story

How to get tax breaks for your medical practice

Federal, state and local governments offer doctors incentives because practices are recognized as economic engines. But physicians must know how and where to find them. Read story


Read story

Advance pay ACOs: A down payment on Medicare's future

Accountable care organizations that pay doctors up-front bring practice improvements, but it's unclear yet if program actuaries will see a return on investment. Read story


Read story

Physician liability: Your team, your legal risk

When health care team members drop the ball, it's often doctors who end up in court. How can physicians improve such care and avoid risks? Read story

  • Stay informed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • LinkedIn