Advocacy
Health Sciences Librarians and Health Care Reform
“Providing quality information for improved health”
Quality health information underpins all aspects of health care. The Medical Library Association (MLA) and the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) believe that authoritative information is mission-critical to every health care enterprise. It is the foundation of all health care processes, including clinical care, biomedical research and the science of health care delivery, transformative health education, and the development of informed healthcare consumers. Health sciences librarians provide authoritative information in support of informed decision making to lower costs and reduce waste, improve health care quality and reduce medical errors, and enhance consumer choice.
Health Sciences Librarians and Health Care Reform: “Providing quality information for improved health”
Ad Hoc Group Transition Letter:
In December, 2008 AAHSL signed on to a letter developed by the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research (supported by AAMC) that was sent to President-elect Obama, urging him to support additional funding for NIH in any upcoming economic stimulus package legislation.
Health Reform Principles and NIH Policy Statement
In preparation for discussion of health care reform, AAHSL and MLA jointly submitted two statements to President Obama's transition team. The first statement outlines three meaningful principles for health care reform.
The second statement addresses the benefits of the NIH Public Access Policy to Advance Science and Promote Healthy People and urges the new administration to support the policy by opposing any effort to undo the twelve-month mandatory deposit requirement, and in fact encouraging the NIH to adopt a six-month requirement, consistent with international norms and the protocols of many privately funded medical research ventures.
Annual Reports
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