AMA COVID-19 Guides for health care professionals

The COVID-19 pandemic represents an enormous threat to public health and an extreme challenge to physicians. The AMA has closely monitored the global outbreak of COVID-19 and compiled up-to-the-moment information for physicians, residents, medical students and health care professionals. Find more information on the pandemic in the AMA COVID-19 resource center. 

1. Provider relief fund: Late reporting workflow (PDF)

   1. HRSA has provided an extenuating circumstances exception for physicians who missed the reporting period. AMA provides a new workflow resource  which outlines the steps necessary for submitting a “Request to Report Late.”

2. AMA Physician’s Guide to COVID-19

   1. This is a quick start guide that provides information on how to prepare your practice, address patient concerns and answer your most pressing questions from curated trusted sources such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, JAMA and the World Health Organization.

      Emergency care CME

      This CME course helps clinicians gain a better understanding of concerns in urgent care and emergency medicine in a peripandemic time.

      Learn Now on AMA Ed Hub™

3. COVID-19 frequently asked questions

   1. The FAQs provide evidence-based perspectives from AMA’s physician leaders and subject matter experts to answer physicians’ pressing questions.

4. Managing mental health during COVID-19

   1. These strategies and resources will help health care workers manage their mental well-being while also caring for patients during the pandemic or any other crisis.

5. COVID-19 volunteer guide for health care professionals

   1. Information for physicians and health care professionals who want to volunteer and support communities severely impacted by COVID-19.

1. AMA Code of Ethics—pandemic guidance

   1. The AMA Code of Medical Ethics offers foundational guidance for health care professionals and institutions responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. Prescribing medications responsibly in a pandemic

   1. This guidance, based on the AMA Code of Medical Ethics Opinions, provides information for prescribing medications responsibly when the decision can be clinically and ethically challenging, such as during a pandemic. 

3. Providing patient care remotely in a pandemic

   1. The AMA Code of Medical Ethics offers guidance for responsibly offering health care services and information remotely via telecommunications technologies during a pandemic.

4. Fair access to limited critical care resources

   1. Guidance from the AMA Code of Medical Ethics looks at physicians’ dual obligations to serve both the well-being of their individual patients and that of other patients and the community at large during a pandemic.

5. Clinical research versus patient care: Conducting clinical trials

   1. The AMA Code of Medical Ethics provides guidance on the importance of keeping in mind the differences between clinical research and patient care. 

6. Caring for patients at the end of life 

   1. Guidance from the AMA Code of Medical Ethics indicates that even when crisis standards of care have been invoked during a pandemic, it is important to ensure that every patient reaching the end of life receives appropriate supportive care. 

7. Clinical research versus patient care: Access experimental treatment 

   1. The AMA Code of Medical Ethics advises physicians to refrain from applying for expanded access on a patient’s behalf when if, in their professional judgment the investigational therapy is not in the patient’s best interest. 

8. Restrictive covenants and care in a pandemic

   1. The AMA Code of Medical Ethics has guidance on whether physicians can provide care outside of a non-compete agreement or restrictive covenant during a pandemic.

9. Graduating early to join the workforce

   1. Guidance based on the AMA Code of Medical Ethics advises on when it is appropriate to involve medical students in providing direct patient care to supplement the physician workforce.

10. Crisis standards of care: Guidance from the AMA Code of Medical Ethics

    1. The AMA Code of Medical Ethics provides foundational guidance for developing ethically sound crisis standards of care guidelines.

11. Speaking out on issues adversely affecting patient safety in a pandemic

    1. Physicians have an ethical obligation to address conditions that adversely affect quality patient care. View the AMA guidance about speaking out on issues that affect patients during a pandemic.

12. Access and health equity during a pandemic

    1. Guidance based on the AMA Code of Medical Ethics for physicians to support fair access to care for patients, particularly during a pandemic. 

13. Obligations to protect health care professionals

    1. Physicians have a well-recognized duty to provide care during a public health emergency, addressed in the AMA Code of Medical Ethics.

14. Protecting public health & vulnerable populations in a pandemic

    1. AMA provides guidance on the responsibility physicians have to advocacy and protect vulnerable patients and populations during a pandemic.

15. Use of patient registries during public health emergencies

    1. While patient information data can be useful during a pandemic, the AMA Code of Medical Ethics provides guidelines on protecting patient confidentiality.

16. Research ethics in a public health crisis

    1. Pressure to act on a therapeutic intervention doesn't justify relaxing standards for ethical clinical research; the Code of Medical Ethics articulates standards for research involving participants during a public health crisis.

17. Physicians in the media: Responsibilities to the public and the profession

    1. ​​​​​​​The AMA Code of Medical Ethics provides guidance for physicians who engage in public concerns through the media. View more about the obligation physicians have to uphold the ethical standards of the profession. 

18. Vaccine trials & healthy volunteers

    1. ​​​​​​​Trial design and informed consent take on ethical significance when developing vaccines, even during the urgency of a pandemic such as COVID-19.

19. Ethical practice in isolation, quarantine & contact tracing

    1. ​​​​​​​The AMA Code of Medical Ethics provides guidance to help physicians strike the balance with patient's rights and privacy when dealing with contact tracing, isolation or quarantine.

20. Prioritizing the rest of health care in a public health crisis

    1. ​​​​​​​The AMA Code of Medical Ethics offers insight into what is ethically required to safely make a broader range of health care services available in a public health crisis.

1. COVID-19 coding and guidance

   1. ​​​​​​​CPT® coding advice, fact sheets and guides for reporting of the novel coronavirus across the nation’s health care system. CPT Assistant is providing a fact sheet for coding guidance for the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) test in relation to the use of the new CPT code.

1. Caring for caregivers during COVID-19

   1. A list of practical strategies for health system leadership to consider in support of their physicians and care teams during COVID-19.

2. AMA quick guide to telemedicine in practice

   1. This quick guide supports physicians and practices in expediting the implementation of telemedicine, so care can continue to be provided to those who need it most.

3. Helping private practices manage non-essential care

   1. A curated list of actions and recommendations for private practices to help safely deliver care to non-urgent patients and consider needs for clinician services, the supply of laboratory test kits and access to personal protective equipment (PPE).

4. Prior authorization policy changes related to COVID-19 (PDF)

   1. Download the latest summary of medical insurance and prescription drug plans.

5. COVID-19: A physician practice guide to keeping your practice open

   1. This physician practice guide for keeping your practice open outlines best practices that should be in place at the federal, state and local levels before and after reopening during COVID-19.

6. Working from home during COVID-19 pandemic (PDF)

   1. The AMA and American Hospital Association want to ensure physicians have resources to help keep their work environment safe from cyber-threats that could disrupt your practice, the hospital, or negatively impact patients’ safety and well-being.

7. Creating a resilient organization for health care workers during a crisis

   1. The AMA provides 17 steps that health care organizations can take in order to effectively care for health care workers during times of crises.

8. Serological testing for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies

   1. A number of new serology tests aimed at identifying those with prior exposure to COVID-19 are rapidly coming to market. AMA offers guidance for physicians and the general public.

1. COVID-19 FAQs: Health equity in a pandemic

   1. AMA looks at some of the reasons why marginalized and minoritized patients have and will suffer disproportionally during the COVID-19 crisis. Read the frequently asked questions on health equity in a pandemic.

2. COVID-19 health equity resources

   1. The AMA is compiling critical health equity resources to focus on the structural issues that contribute to and could exacerbate already existing inequities, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

3. States tracking COVID-19 race and ethnicity data

   1. Data on racial and ethnic patterns of the COVID-19 pandemic show that the disease is disproportionately impacting black communities.

1. COVID-19 resource guide: Women in medicine

   1. AMA has curated resources to assist women physicians and health care workers, and their patients during the coronavirus outbreak.

1. COVID-19 FAQs: Guidance for international medical graduates

   1. Review FAQs on various issues impacting international medical graduate physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Senior physician COVID-19 resource guide 

   1. A curated list of resources to provide guidance to senior and retired physicians who may wish to return to work or are called upon to do so during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. 

1. Protecting underrepresented students and residents during COVID-19

   1. ​​​​​​​The current pandemic is impacting all segments of society—but not equally—and it has created significant disruptions in medical education. Find examples of pressing risks for inequity in educational outcomes.

2. Medical education COVID-19 resource guide 

   1. A selection of resources to assist residents, medical students and faculty during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak to help manage the shifting timelines, cancellations and adjustments to testing, rotations and other events at this time.

3. AMA guiding principles to protect learners responding to COVID-19

   1. The AMA and other educational organizations issue principles to support and protect medical students if their institutions put them in physical contact with patients and/or offer early graduation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

4. Guiding principles to protect resident & fellow physicians responding to COVID-19

   1. AMA provides guiding principles for programs, institutions and organizations to follow in managing the engagement of residents during the response to COVID-19.

5. COVID-19 resources for medical educators

   1. A curated,crowd-sourced list of potential resources—both free and paid—for virtual or remote learning that have been shared by medical educators in a variety of settings.

6. Loan and grant info for residents & medical students during COVID-19

   1. AMA outlines benefits, such as loan relief and additional grants, to assist residents and medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

7. COVID-19 FAQs: Guidance for medical students

   1. AMA provides information to address frequently asked questions for medical students on medical education, well-being and how to get involved during the pandemic.

8. COVID-19 resources for residents and fellows

   1. ​​​​​​​AMA provides resources for medical residents and fellows during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Policy options for states to address COVID-19

   1. View some of the policy options, such as costs for testing, access to care and vaccines, for states to implement to address the COVID-19 outbreak.

2. COVID-19: Advocacy Progress Report

   1. The report chronicles the federal AMA actions that have been taken to help frontline personnel, practices and hospitals remove the obstacles physicians face while confronting the COVID-19 pandemic.

3. COVID-19 policy recommendations for OUD, pain, harm reduction

   1. Recommendations to help guide policymakers reduce the stress being experienced by patients with an opioid use disorder (OUD) and pain as well as support efforts to continue harm reduction efforts in communities across the U.S.

4. Patient care for SUD, mental illness, chronic pain during COVID-19

   1. Guidance to help ensure continuity of care for patients with a substance use disorder (SUD), mental illness or chronic pain. 

5. What the CARES Act means for physicians & medical students

   1. The following are part of the CARES Act-related articles:

      • CARES Act: Medicare’s COVID-19 advance payment program FAQs

      • CARES Act: Medicare advance payments for COVID-19 emergency

      • CARES Act: AMA COVID-19 pandemic telehealth fact sheet

      • CARES Act: Loans & other financial assistance for physician practice

6. Liability protections for health care professionals during COVID-19

   1. View the liability protections for health care professional that are currently in effect during COVID-19.

7. AMA resources to help states respond to COVID-19

   1. The AMA has been working with state and national medical specialty societies to ensure patient access to care and increase protections for physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

8. HEROES Act: What physicians and medical students need to know

   1. The AMA offers highlights on the latest bill in response to COVID-19: "Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act” (HEROES Act).