(Feb. 11, 2009) On January 12, the Partnership for Primary Care Workforce (PPCW) held a congressional staff briefing in the Capitol, featuring three presentations. Kevin Grumbach, MD, of the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, discussed training the next generation of primary care providers and presented evidence of the decline of and growing need for a primary care workforce. Robert Berenson, MD, of The Urban Institute, spoke about developing a payment system that reflects the value of primary care. The briefing was concluded by Andrea Anderson, MD, of the Upper Cardozo Health Center, who is a National Health Service Corps member. She related personal stories about how being a primary care physician has enriched her life and the lives of her patients in an underserved area of Washington, DC.
The PPCW is a non-partisan, nationwide effort by key professional, provider, and educational organizations, including AACOM, AOA, ACOFP, and more than a dozen other organizations, to strengthen and improve the nation’s primary care workforce. The partnership has three core principles: (1) building a primary care infrastructure; (2) enhancing workforce development through training, education and professional opportunities; and (3) payment system change that reflects the value of primary care.
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