Why We Need to Unlock the Full Potential of Primary Care
By William H. Bestermann MD and Patricia Salber MD, MBA
There are powerful reasons to move to a value-based primary care system. Highly effective Primary Care 3.0 is an indispensable piece of that effort.
There are powerful reasons to move to a value-based primary care system. Highly effective primary care is an indispensable piece of that effort. It is critically important that we move rapidly from Primary Care 1.0 and 2.0 to Primary Care 3. The latter provides a molecular medical management framework as opposed to the traditional organ system management. We believe that implementing this type of approach will unlock the full potential of primary care.
Why is primary care so important?
Research demonstrates that a focus on primary care has many benefits. These include:
- better health
- lower costs
- lower mortality
- higher patient satisfaction
- fewer ER visits
- reduced hospitalizations
Primary care provider reimbursement generates just 7.7% of healthcare costs but PCPs direct most spending through their referrals. There is evidence that this is exacerbated when PCPs are employed by…
