Primary Care Practice Transformation in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond: Key Principles for General Internal Medicine Practitioners

• Authors: Stacie Schmidt, Emory University; Reena Gupta, University of California San Francisco; Jennifer Bracey, Medical University of South Carolina; Anna Volerman, University of Chicago; Tracey Henry, Emory University; Christopher Jackson, University of Tennessee; Diana Levine, Wayne State University; Danielle Jones, Emory University; James M. Richter, Massachusetts General Hospital; Jennifer Schmidt, Washington University in St. Louis; Lisa Rotenstein, Harvard Medical School; Zackary Berger, Johns Hopkins Medicine; Kimberly Peairs, Johns Hopkins Medicine; Harpreet Singh, University of the Pacific; Mark Schwartz, New York University; Jim Bailey, University of Tennessee; John Goodson, Harvard Medical School
• Journal Title: JOURNAL OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE
• Volume: Volume 37, Number 2
• Publisher: SPRINGER | 2021-11-29, Pages 459-466
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-021-07205-6
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Health Care Management; Health Sciences, Public Health
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Health Care Sciences & Services; Medicine, General & Internal; General & Internal Medicine; clinical practice redesign; healthcare delivery; PHYSICIAN; TIME

Abstract

As members of the Clinical Practice Committee (CPC) of the Society for General Internal Medicine (SGIM), we support practice innovation and transformation to achieve a more just system by which all people can achieve and maintain optimal health. The COVID-19 pandemic has tested the US healthcare delivery system and sharpened our national awareness of long-standing and ingrained system shortcomings. In the face of crisis, SGIM members innovated and energetically mobilized to focus on the immediate needs of our patients and communities. Reflecting on these experiences, we are called to consider what was learned from the pandemic that applies to the future of healthcare delivery. CPC members include leaders in primary care delivery, practice finance, quality of care, patient safety, hospital practice, and health policy. CPC members provide expertise in clinical practice, serving as primary care doctors, hospitalists, and patient advocates who understand the intensity of care needed for those with severe COVID-19 infections, the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on Black and Brown communities, the struggles created for those with poor access to care, and the physical and emotional impact it has placed on patients, families, and clinicians. In this consensus statement, we summarize lessons learned from the 2020-2021 pandemic and their broader implications for reform in healthcare delivery. We provide a platform for future work by identifying many interactive elements of healthcare delivery that must be simultaneously addressed in order to ensure that care is accessible, equitably provided, patient-centered, and cost-effective.