5 objectives for achieving high-quality primary care at the state level

Research shows that patients who regularly see a primary care provider (PCP) have overall better health, less frequent hospital visits and lower rates of chronic disease. One report found that the U.S. could save an estimated $67 billion per year if every American saw a PCP as their main source of care. Despite this, only 5% of U.S. health care spending is allocated toward primary care, which is less than any other western democracy.

Physicians in primary care fields—family medicine, pediatrics and general internal medicine—are among the lowest paid doctors in the country, and the pipeline of new primary care physicians is vastly inadequate to replace physicians who are leaving the field for retirement, or because of burnout, according to an expert-led webinar on the subject.