The Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) is delighted to recognize Dr. Bob Phillips as our latest Primary Care Champion. Dr. Phillips is the Founding Executive Director of the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM)’s Center for Professionalism and Value in Health Care.
Phillips sat down recently with PCC President and CEO Ann Greiner to discuss what ignites his passion for primary care advocacy and what he hopes can be done to improve access to comprehensive, whole-person primary care in the United States.
To begin the interview, Phillips discussed what ignited his passion. Thinking he would be a physician researcher early in his professional career, Phillips completed a rural family medicine rotation during his third year of medical school and fell in love with the practice. Through this work, he discovered the power of cultivating strong relationships with patients in improving patients’ health. He was then able to marry this passion with his desire for greater research and policy advocacy in 2000 through his role as Assistant Director at the AAFP Robert Graham Center.
Phillips then explored his experience with comprehensive, whole-person primary care. He explained how, a decade ago at his own practice, his practice had a PharmD and psychologists in the office that allowed for more seamless, coordinated care, which gave him firsthand experience with the power of high-value, team-based care.
Later, he touched upon how his work evaluating Medicare Advantage plans reinforced his perspective on coordinated care, noting how one plan in Texas that dedicated itself to wraparound services had become a particularly strong archetype of effective care. Under the program, the panel of 650 patients was able to have hour-long visits with primary care clinicians and access to a wide range of medical professionals and services. This led to 60% lower bed days and a 50% lower age-adjusted mortality rate than a peer comparison group of Medicare beneficiaries.
Phillips also addressed how red tape and unnecessary paperwork hamper many primary care clinicians’ ability to deliver the best-quality care. He noted how the burden of prior authorization and other administrative challenges often fall to primary care clinicians.
Phillips then closed the conversation by offering advice to emerging primary care advocates, urging them to seek out policy leaders, even in the context of learning and personal growth.