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Primary Care

Primary care providers are often the first point of contact for patients attempting to navigate a complex health care delivery system and seeking referrals to specialists. RAND has explored the increasing use of emergency departments as a primary care setting, the influence of primary care on health care spending, shared decisionmaking between patients and primary care providers, the emergence of retail health clinics, and more.

Journal Article
Centrally Assisted Telecare for Military Members with PTSD and Depression
Military members who visited a primary care clinic while suffering from PTSD and depression reported fewer symptoms and better mental health functioning a year after enrolling in a treatment program that included specially trained care managers and telephone therapy options.
Jun 24, 2016
Journal Article
Association Between Primary Care Visits and Colorectal Cancer Screening Outcomes in the Era of Population Health Outreach
Patients who visited their primary care provider one or more times were almost twice as likely to be screened for colorectal cancer and about 30 percent more likely receive a follow-up colonoscopy after a positive screening result.
Jun 24, 2016
Report
Agreement with, and feasibility of, the emerging recommendations from the Living with Breathlessness study: Findings from an online stakeholder survey
This report contains the findings from an online survey of stakeholders who work with people living with advanced COPD to explore agreement with, and feasibility of the recommendations from the Living with Breathlessness study.
Jun 6, 2016
Commentary
Can Hospital Services Work in Primary Care Settings?
Shifting health care from hospitals to the community will only be justified if patient satisfaction and convenience is valued above costs to the NHS, or if this shift reduces health care costs in the long term.
Jun 2, 2016
Journal Article
Outpatient Services and Primary Care: Scoping Review, Substudies and International Comparisons
Strategies to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of outpatient services.
May 11, 2016
Journal Article
Relationship Between Adolescent Report of Patient-Centered Care and of Quality of Primary Care
This study supports the use of patient-centered care, self-reported by adolescents, as a measure of primary care quality for adolescents.
Apr 21, 2016
Journal Article
Barriers to Engaging Service Members in Mental Health Care Within the U.S. Military Health System
Despite efforts to integrate behavioral health care into primary care in the military health system, members of the military continue to perceive barriers to mental health care access. Issues remain with capacity, culture, and care quality.
Apr 1, 2016
Journal Article
Care Management Processes Used Less Often for Depression Than for Other Chronic Conditions in US Primary Care Practices
U.S. primary care physicians make less use of care management for depression than for asthma, congestive heart failure, or diabetes, suggesting that primary care practices are not well equipped to manage depression as a chronic illness, despite the high proportion of depression care they provide.
Mar 14, 2016
Journal Article
Accuracy of the Safer Dx Instrument to Identify Diagnostic Errors in Primary Care
We aimed to test the accuracy of an instrument to help detect presence or absence of diagnostic error through record reviews.
Mar 2, 2016
Journal Article
The Facilitators and Barriers Associated with Implementation of a Patient-Centered Medical Home in VHA
We used a 2012 survey of primary care employees in the Veterans Health Administration to perform cross-sectional, respondent-level multinomial regressions.
Mar 2, 2016
Journal Article
Effect of Behavioral Interventions on Inappropriate Antibiotic Prescribing Among Primary Care Practices: A Randomized Clinical Trial
This study assesses the effects of behavioral interventions and rates of inappropriate (not guideline-concordant) antibiotic prescribing during ambulatory visits for acute respiratory tract infections.
Feb 18, 2016
Journal Article
Association of Medical Home Team-Based Care Functions and Perceived Improvements in Patient-Centered Care at VHA Primary Care Clinics
Team-based care is central to the patient-centered medical home (PCMH), but most PCMH evaluations measure team structure exclusively. We assessed team-based care in terms of team structure, process and effectiveness, and the association with improvements in teams' abilities to deliver patient-centered care.
Jan 26, 2016
News Release
Significant Costs Involved with Converting Primary Care Medical Practices to 'Medical Homes'
While there are financial incentives available to primary care practices that transform into medical homes, such investments might be especially challenging for small practices and those not associated with a larger health network. The costs include one-time startup costs and ongoing costs, the greatest being adding new staff to help better coordinate patients' care.
Jan 11, 2016
Journal Article
Availability of Primary Care Team Members Can Improve Teamwork and Readiness for Change
This study conducted a survey of 766 adult primary care providers and staff in 34 California safety net practices to assess primary care team structure (team size, team member availability, and access to interdisciplinary expertise), teamwork, and readiness for change.
Nov 20, 2015
Journal Article
Innovative Approach to Patient-Centered Care Coordination in Primary Care Practices
Embedding non-licensed care coordinators in primary care practices significantly reduced emergency department visits.
Nov 13, 2015
Journal Article
The Relationship Between Same-Day Access and Continuity in Primary Care and Emergency Department Visits
This study examines how emergency department (ED) visits for potentially preventable, mental health, and other diagnoses were related to same-day access and provider continuity in primary care.
Oct 29, 2015
Journal Article
Taking Patients' Narratives About Clinicians from Anecdote to Science
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Aug 28, 2015
Report
Evaluation of CMS's Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Advanced Primary Care Practice (APCP) Demonstration: Final Second Annual Report
This second of three reports follows the progress of a three-year project intended to support the transformation of federally qualified health centers into advanced primary care practices in support of Medicare beneficiaries.
Jul 29, 2015
Report
New organisational models of primary care to meet the future needs of the NHS: A brief overview of recent reports
The NHS in England faces several future challenges for primary care. RAND Europe was commissioned to present a brief overview of reports -- from England and internationally -- that describe new models for delivering primary care.
Jul 21, 2015
Journal Article
Parents' Role in Adolescent Depression Care
Primary care physicians view parental attitudes as a common barrier to treatment for depressed adolescents. Identifying and addressing parental barriers to care may increase treatment engagement.
Jul 14, 2015

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RAND Topic:
Primary Care

Research conducted by

RAND Health Care