WASHINGTON, DC — The nation’s leading health care organizations in the areas of obstetrics-gynecology, family medicine, and pediatrics issued an unprecedented call to action today for the nation’s health care providers and administrators.
The collaboration, which includes the American Academy of Family Physicians; the American Academy of Pediatrics; the American College of Nurse-Midwives; the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; the American College of Osteopathic Obstetricians & Gynecologists; the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses; and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, was brought about by the need to develop an interdisciplinary collaborative approach to patient care to optimize maternal and fetal health outcomes.
While infant mortality rates in the United States declined in 2010, the U.S. rate remains higher than most European nations. In addition, U.S. health care providers have seen an increase in pregnancy complications. These trends, along with the recognition that collaboration among physicians, midwives, and nurses is essential to positive health outcomes, prompted the organizations to develop joint recommendations.
The “Call to Action” includes recommendations for health care providers and administrators:
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Leading Health Care Organizations Issue Recommendations for Quality Patient Care in Labor and Delivery
Unprecedented Collaboration Creates Joint Call to Action
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Contact:
Amanda Holt
American Academy of Family Physicians
(800) 274-2237, Ext. 5223
aholt@aafp.org
- Ensure that patient-centered care and patient safety are organizational priorities that guide decisions for policies and practices.
- Foster a culture of openness by promoting the active communication of good outcomes and opportunities for improvement. Develop forums to facilitate communication and track issues of concern.
- Provide resources for clinicians to be trained in the principles of teamwork, safety, and shared decision-making.
- Develop methods to systematically track and evaluate care processes and outcomes.
- Facilitate cross-departmental sharing of resources and expertise.
- Ensure that quality obstetric care is a priority that guides individual and team decisions.
- Identify and communicate safety concerns, and work together to mitigate potential safety risks.
- Disseminate and use the best available evidence, including individual and hospital-level data, to guide practice patterns.
The joint call to action underscores the collective belief among health care providers that ongoing collaboration is a key element to improving health care outcomes.
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Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents 110,600 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.
Approximately one in four of all office visits are made to family physicians. That is 240 million office visits each year — nearly 87 million more than the next largest medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide more care for America’s underserved and rural populations than any other medical specialty. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care.
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