ABSTRACT
Primary care providers (PCPs) are typically the first point of contact between patients and health systems.Fromapatient’sperspective,PCPsprovidethemajorityofcaretheyreceiveduringtheirlifetime andareresponsibleforavarietyofhealthservicesincludingpreventivemedicine,patienteducation, routinephysicalexams,andthecoordinationofcomplexepisodesinwhichpatientsarereferredto medicalspecialtiesforsecondaryandtertiarycare.Ÿebenefitsofastrongprimarycaresystemare welldocumentedintheclinicalliterature.Shietal.(2005)showthatincreasedaccesstoprimarycare (1)improvesaccesstohealthservicesforrelativelydeprivedpopulationgroups;(2)hasastrongpositive relationshipwithpreventionandearlymanagementofhealthproblems;and(3)leadstoincreasedfamiliaritywithpatientsand,consequently,tolesswastefulexpendituresduetoinappropriatespecialistcare.
