Over 230 Organizations Signed on to Shared Principles that Advance New Vision of Primary Care

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, at its Annual Fall Conference, the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) released a comprehensive set of Shared Principles of Primary Care that is supported by 233 organizations representing diverse health care stakeholders. The principles chart a new chapter for advanced primary care that successfully engages patients in decision-making, relies on team-based care, incorporates population health, and commits to stewardship of scarce resources.

“The primary care community is implementing models that deliver value – better patient outcomes, lower costs, healthier Americans, and clinicians who find joy in their work,” said PCPCC’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Ann Greiner. “Our conference brings together thoughtful leaders that are on the cutting edge of primary care innovation and have evidence-based results.”

The Shared Principles, which build on the 2007 Patient-Centered Medical Home Joint Principles, include seven important attributes of advanced primary care: person and family centered, continuous, comprehensive and equitable, team based and collaborative, coordinated and integrated, accessible, and high value. 

The Shared Principles were developed through a multi-stakeholder collaborative effort, with leadership from the PCPCC and Family Medicine for American’s Health (FMAHealth), as well as input from organizations that span all aspects of health care, including consumers and payers. To date, hundreds of diverse organizations – including physician and nursing organizations, consumers, employers, health plans, and hospitals – have signed the Shared Principles and agreed to work toward this aspirational vision for the future of primary care.

“The Shared Principles is a powerful framework to move the United States toward a vibrant future of person-centered, team-based, community-aligned primary care, said Glen Stream, President and Board Chair of FMAHealth. “We are proud to work with PCPCC to develop these principles that can serve as a guiding light for our collective advocacy for even better primary care.”

“The Shared Principles prove there is unity and consensus on the ideal future of primary care,” said Jill Hummel, President & General Manager of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Connecticut. “This common vision must now be supported by enablers, including alternate payments models that move away from fee-for-service, to ensure that primary care has the resources necessary to deliver on these ideals and achieve the goals of better health, better care, and lower costs.”

“We are delighted to work in partnership with the PCPCC and stakeholders across the country to implement this powerful new vision of primary care,” said Debra L. Ness, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families. “In many ways, the future of primary care is the future of health care in our country. We are prepared to do all we can to advance these Shared Principles.”

In addition to the Shared Principles, conference attendees will hear first-hand about interdisciplinary primary care practice models that successfully reduced opiate addiction, payment and delivery reforms including direct primary care, successful “strange bedfellow” efforts across labor and management to elevate primary care, and innovative models to garner patient input, including patient “shark tanks.” There will also be timely updates on key developments in the federal and state legislative and regulatory areas that affect primary care.

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Family Medicine for America’s Health (FMAHealth)

Family Medicine for America’s Health is a collaboration among the nation’s eight leading family medicine organizations to drive continued improvement of the U.S. health care system. Family Medicine for America’s Health is working to transform the family medicine specialty to ensure that we can meet the nation’s health care needs and improve the health of every American by shifting to comprehensive payment for primary care, ensuring a strong primary care workforce, advancing the use of technology and supporting the evolution of the patient-centered medical home. Family Medicine for America’s Health is the sponsor of Health is Primary, a national campaign focused on demonstrating how primary care can deliver on the Triple Aim of better care and better quality at a lower cost. For more information, visit www.fmahealth.com.

Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative:

Founded in 2006, the PCPCC is a not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to advancing an effective and efficient healthcare system built on a strong foundation of primary care and the patient-centered medical home (PCMH). The PCPCC achieves its mission through the work of its executive members, experts, thought leaders, and other stakeholders focused on key issues of delivery reform, payment reform, patient engagement, and benefit design to drive health system transformation. For more information or to become an executive member, visit www.pcpcc.org.

Media Contact:

Allison Gross

Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative

202-417-2075

agross@pcpcc.org