AMA initiatives to improve maternal health outcomes

The AMA demonstrates its commitment to health equity through addressing the social conditions that impact health, increasing health workforce diversity, advocating for equity in health care access, promoting equity in care, and ensuring equitable practices and processes in research and data collection.

The following provides a brief overview of the collaborative initiatives the AMA continues to pursue to improve maternal health outcomes (this list is by no means exhaustive):

• External community-based initiatives, including a collaboration with West Side United to address health inequity in ten neighborhoods on Chicago’s west side, as well as a partnership with other health care organizations to highlight the Release the Pressure (RTP) campaign. The AMA also partnered with March of Dimes and the Sinai Urban Health Institute to research, report and elevate the impact of maternity care deserts within the city of Chicago.
• Federal advocacy, which includes working with the Congressional Black Maternal Health Caucus and the Bipartisan Maternity Care Caucus.
• State advocacy, which has included advocating for the extension of Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women until 12 months postpartum. The AMA has also partnered with Manatt Health on several reports, including a set of recommendations for state policymakers to improve access to care for pregnant and postpartum people with opioid use disorder
• Educating physicians on topics such as health equity, SDoH, social justice, and implicit bias to support reimagining the future of health equity and racial justice in medical education and improving the diversity of the health workforce.
• AMA Behavioral Health Integration (BHI) Collaborative, a collaboration with several members of the Federation of Medicine to ensure that physicians and their practices have  the necessary support to provide equitable, whole-person care for their patients and families.

Learn more about these initiatives—and more (PDF).

• AMA advocacy to improve maternal health
• AMA recommendations to improve maternal health outcomes

Release the Pressure

Release the Pressure (RTP) brings together a national coalition of likeminded health care organizations with a shared mission to reduce the incidence of heart disease in Black communities.

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