High-quality primary care is the foundation of the health care system. It provides continuous, person-centered, relationship-based care that considers the needs and preferences of individuals, families, and communities. Without access to high-quality primary care, minor health problems can spiral into chronic disease, chronic disease management becomes difficult and uncoordinated, visits to emergency departments increase, preventive care lags, and health care spending soars to unsustainable levels.


Unequal access to primary care remains a concern, and the COVID-19 pandemic amplified pervasive economic, mental health, and social health disparities that ubiquitous, high-quality primary care might have reduced. Primary care is the only health care component where an increased supply is associated with better population health and more equitable outcomes. For this reason, primary care is a common good, which makes the strength and quality of the country's primary care services a public concern.


Implementing High-Quality Primary Care: Rebuilding the Foundation of Health Care puts forth an evidence-based plan with actionable objectives and recommendations for implementing high-quality primary care in the United States. The implementation plan of this report balances national needs for scalable solutions while allowing for adaptations to meet local needs.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
Abstract
Summary
1 A New Vision for Primary Care
2 Defining High-Quality Primary Care Today
3 Primary Care in the United States: A Brief History and Current Trends
4 Person-Centered, Family-Centered, and Community-Oriented Primary Care
5 Integrated Primary Care Delivery
6 Designing Interprofessional Teams and Preparing the Future Primary Care Workforce
7 Digital Health and Primary Care
8 Primary Care Measures and Use: Powerful, Simple, Accountable
9 Payment to Support High-Quality Primary Care
10 Enhancing Research in Primary Care
11 The Committee's Approach to an Implementation Strategy
12 A Plan for Implementing High-Quality Primary Care
Appendix A: Committee Member, Fellow, and Staff Biographies
Appendix B: Primary Care: America's Health in a New Era Report Recommendations
Appendix C: Committee's Calculations to Determine the Impact of the Decreased Density of Primary Care Physicians Between 2005 and 2015
Appendix D: Three System-Level Tables of Actors and Actions
Appendix E: The Health of Primary Care: A U.S. Scorecard