Pandemic Exposes Need for Alternate Primary Care Payment
Experts in primary care say the field has still not resolved long-term financial and structural challenges exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. They also point out that primary care must play a central role if the health care industry will successfully confront the structural racism and inequality made worse by COVID-19.
In a Feb. 17 virtual event organized by the Robert Graham Center, a think tank that studies population health, family medicine and primary care, panelists described the financial challenges posed to primary care by the pandemic, which include accelerating consolidation and a problematic reliance on fee-for-service revenue. The panel, which featured executives, researchers and practitioners from organizations including CVS Health Corp. and UCLA, also observed that PCPs are on the front lines of population health challenges caused by structural inequality — which the pandemic has made even worse.