On May 4, 2021, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released its new report, Implementing High-Quality Primary Care: Rebuilding the Foundation of Health Care. The report looks at the state of primary care today and presents an implementation plan that builds upon the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine’s report from 25 years ago: Primary Care: America’s Health in a New Era (1996).
An Urban Institute survey during the pandemic showed that more than one in three U.S. adults – most with chronic conditions – delayed getting treatment, either over fear of the virus or because of COVID-19-related limits on services. Even as the public health emergency continues, studies are raising alarm about missed care in primary care, behavioral health, and dental care and within specific minority communities.
As millions of people across the country roll up their sleeves to receive COVID-19 shots, many sectors are also rolling up their sleeves and getting to work in this massive undertaking. Primary care has very much been in the mix—answering patient questions, helping to overcome vaccine hesitancy and beginning to administer the vaccines. We have the experience, assets and skills to help meet the country’s vaccine goals. But for widespread immunity to happen rapidly and efficiently, it will take coordination and cooperation by primary care and other sectors.
In its broadest look yet at primary care spending, the PCC analyzed spending over time, nationally and in all 50 states, and published the results in its annual evidence-based report for 2020 (released December 2020). The report reveals some alarming trends: The U.S. health system’s investment in primary care is low and declined between 2017 and 2019, both nationally and in a majority of states.
At the beginning of the pandemic, telehealth use skyrocketed because clinicians and patients needed to be safe while providing and receiving needed care. Now, with many months of experience in heavy telehealth use, it’s worth taking stock of its profusion into primary care and evaluating which policies and practices make sense to continue in order to achieve the best health outcomes, advance efficiencies in care, and meet patient needs and preferences.
For many, this year’s back-to-school season during a protracted pandemic is fraught with health risks and questions about student and teacher safety. Parents and teachers are concerned about the spread of the coronavirus in schools and between schools and homes. Primary care can help families navigate these uncharted waters. This webinar examined the role of primary care for children in the risk assessment, prevention, and treatment of COVID-19 as well as in addressing related behavioral health needs and inequities in care. The webinar also addressed planned vaccinations.
The COVID-19 pandemic could lead to 75,000 additional deaths from alcohol and drug misuse and suicide, according to an analysis by Well Being Trust (WBT) and the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care released in early May and titled Projected Deaths of Despair From COVID-19. This research underscores the fact that the pandemic has created enormous behavioral health (BH) concerns that primary care in tandem with BH can help address now and as the country emerges from the pandemic.
