Efforts to Revitalize U.S. Primary Care Promotes Internatio​nal Dialogue

Efforts to Revitalize U.S. Primary Care Promotes International Dialogue

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is pleased to announce the publication of a journal supplement devoted to the 2011 AHRQ-sponsored conference “International Learning on Increasing the Value and Effectiveness of Primary Care.”

Leading thinkers, researchers, and implementers from Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, as well as a delegation from the United States, convened with the goal of proposing a policy roadmap for the United States to revitalize its primary care system.

The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine is releasing today a supplement that includes an introductory commentary by David Meyers, M.D., Director of AHRQ’s Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships. Dr. Meyers describes the dialogue as “exceedingly rich and diverse.” Dr. Meyers also writes, “Every country had a unique story to tell and there appeared to be no one right way to build a robust primary care system. Almost every delegation at some time during the conference bemoaned the shortcomings of their system and experiences—reminding us all that health care reform is an iterative journey and not a magical one-time burst of transformation.” Bob Phillips of the Robert Graham Center contributed an overall summary of the conference, and each of the international delegations contributed an article addressing and challenging current models of primary care, system and community infrastructure, quality and safety, health system change and sustainability, and financing and incentives for primary care.

To read the supplement, visit http://www.jabfm.org/content/25/Suppl_1.toc?etoc. To view the full conference agenda and videos of the main sessions, visit AHRQ’s Web site at http://ahrq.hhs.gov/research/intlprimconf.htm.


OPEN HERE PLEASE:
International Learning on Increasing the Value and Effectiveness of Primary Care Conference (I LIVE PC)


On April 4, 2011, AHRQ hosted a small conference on international lessons in primary care system design and development. Leading thinkers, researchers, and implementers from Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom joined a delegation from the United States led by Kevin Grumbach, Paul Grundy, and Kavita Patel to discuss models of care, system and community infrastructure, quality and safety, process of health system change and sustainability, and financing and incentives. The goal of the meeting was to propose a policy roadmap for the United States to revitalize its primary care system. The meeting was co-sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund and was organized in partnership with the AAFP's Robert Graham Center. The conference presentations and group discussions may be viewed here until April 30, 2012. Later this year, AHRQ will publish a summary of the conference and individual papers from each of the seven participating delegations.
These presentations use Microsoft Silverlight®, a free web-browser plug-in. It is compatible with all major browsers. To download the free reader, go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=149156M

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Presentations
Welcome
Carolyn Clancy
Director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
International Overview of Health Systems: Findings From the Commonwealth International Health Policy Survey
Robin Osborn
Vice President and Director, International Program in Health Policy and Innovation
The Commonwealth Fund
Panel 1: Primary Care Models
Panelists: Harry Pert (New Zealand)
Brian Hutchison (New Zealand)
John Marley (Australia)
Moderator: David Meyers (United States)
Panel 2: Infrastructure to Support Primary Care
Panelists: David Colin-Thomé (United Kingdom)
Emil Djakic (Australia)
John Sahl Andersen (Denmark)
Moderator: Kevin Grumbach (United States)
Panel 3: Creating and Sustaining Change and Transformation
Panelists: Chris van Weel (The Netherlands)
Harry Pert (New Zealand)
James Dunbar (Australia)
Moderator: Kjeld Møller Pedersen (Denmark)
Panel 4: Promoting Quality and Safety
Panelists: Jens Søndergaard (Denmark)
Arno Timmermans (The Netherlands)
Bruce Guthrie (United Kingdom)
Moderator: Rob Wedel (Canada)
Panel 5: Financing and Incentives to Support Primary Care
Panelists: Martin Roland (United Kingdom)
Marsha Barnes (Canada)
Henk Schers (The Netherlands)
Moderator: Beverley O'Keefe (New Zealand)
Panel 6: Reactions From the United States
Panelists: Kavita Patel
Thomas Graf
Paul Grundy
Moderator: Kevin Grumbach
The Transformation Package
Facilitator: Claire Jackson (Australia)
Note: The conference continued on April 5, 2011, with a half-day session devoted to developing policy options and recommendations for the United States in order to revitalize its primary health care system.

Current as of April 2011

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Internet Citation:

International Learning on Increasing the Value and Effectiveness of Primary Care Conference (I LIVE PC). April 2011. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/intlprimconf.htm