Implementing High-Quality Primary Care: A Report From the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Twenty-seven years ago, the Institute of Medicine launched a primary care consensus study that, at the time, seemed highly aligned with the country’s appetite for health reform and managed care.1 Primary Care: America’s Health in a New Era produced a primary care definition still used around the world; however, the report’s recommendations received no traction in the US. Similarly, a 2012 Institute of Medicine report on the integration of primary care and public health largely went unheeded.2 While primary care is uniquely positioned to support COVID-19 testing, tracing, and vaccination and to help address pervasive health and social inequities, primary care was not considered in congressional relief packages in 2020 and many practices may be closed when they are needed most.

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