Toward international primary care reform
Author(s)/Editor(s): Starfield B
Publisher/Organizer: CMAJ
Publication date: May 26, 2009; 180 (11)
Language: English
- Read the full paper on the publisher's website
- See related paper: Capitation and enhanced fee-for-service models for primary care reform: a population-based evaluation
Overview
“Primary care reform is now a worldwide imperative. National health care systems with strong primary care infrastructures have healthier populations, fewer health-related disparities and lower overall costs for health care. 1 In the World Health Organization’s 2008 World Health Report, 2 all countries were encouraged to orient their health care systems toward strengthened primary care. Such reforms are unlikely to improve overall population health, equalize distribution of health care resources or reduce costs unless they address both the systemic and clinical characteristics of primary care."