Every other week, the Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) gathers major new stories, opinion pieces, research articles, case studies and more covering primary care. Want to submit a piece? Feel free to email the piece to PCC Communications Associate Maximilian Sandefer at msandefer@thepcc.org.
Opinion: Medicare’s Role in Fighting Chronic Disease
From: David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P., Elizabeth Fowler, J.D., Ph.D., and Gretchen Jacobson, Ph.D for the New England Journal of Medicine
A recent New England Journal of Medicine perspective argues that the U.S. can make real, lasting progress against chronic disease in Medicare through strengthening primary care. Read how expanding access to preventive services, improving affordability and modernizing Medicare benefits works to better support long-term, relationship-based care for older adults.
What happens to primary care physicians when patients don’t have health insurance?
From: Richard Payerchin for Medical Economics
Rising health insurance costs—combined with the expiration of federal subsidies—may reduce the overall volume of primary care visits for patients, which could worsen health outcomes from missing preventive services. In this piece, Medical Economics’s Richard Payerchin breaks down recent analysis of the long-term impacts on prevention and primary care provided by former CMMI Director Elizabeth Fowler and Johns Hopkins Professor Gerard Anderson in a January 22 online discussion.
New Data Highlight Primary Care as a Win-Win for Health Outcomes and Costs in New York
From: NY Health Foundation and Primary Care Development Corporation
A new data brief from the New York Health Foundation and Primary Care Development Corporation finds that New York spends more on health care than nearly any other state, yet continues to underinvest in primary care. Read how mounting workforce shortages, uneven access in rural and underserved communities and chronic underfunding of primary care act as key drivers of higher costs and mediocre health outcomes, underscoring the need for deliberate policy action.
How investing in primary care helped a hospital system get back in the black
From: Jessica Bartlett for STAT
STAT explores how Beth Israel Lahey Health’s recent emphasis on investing in primary care has helped the health system grow. “I don’t think you can have a successful health system in general, academic or not, without a front door,” Beth Israel Lahey CEO Kevin Tabb told STAT. “I don’t think you can take care of the complex patients without taking care of the patients before they are complex… It’s a short-sighted view to say we can’t afford to invest in primary care. I take the opposite view. We can’t afford not to.”
How AI Is Reimagining Primary Care Billing
From: Leona Rajaee for Elation Health
Independent primary care practices face tough billing challenges, often with the fewest resources in medicine. This article explores how thoughtfully designed AI can reduce denials, ease administrative burden and help with billing, all without replacing the people who make care possible.
Also, from the PCC…
States Lean in on Primary Care as They Disperse New Federal Funds
A strong interest from states, combined with the flexibility of the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), is highlighting a renewed commitment to primary care. Many governors and state lawmakers have agreed to allocate parts of their federal grant to strengthen primary care, and, in some instances, support efforts that existed before or are separate from RHTP.
Check out six recent examples in a new PCC blog.
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