The pandemic highlighted the interplay between primary care and public health, and many lessons have been learned over the course of 18 months on how to improve partnership between the two. Now, a new report published Dec. 14 suggests tangible actions to do just so.
In the report, Johns Hopkins researchers looked to investigate the degree of collaboration between primary care providers and public health officials throughout the course of the pandemic. They conducted a literature review and interviewed key public officials and physicians to collect data on what went wrong during the pandemic and how to improve key issues in the future.
Here are the recommendations given by the authors:
- Federal and state agencies need to reevaluate and integrate policies that affect both primary care and public health. These agencies should tap into the primary care system for their public health messaging and initiatives to make use of the trust that is built in primary care facilities.
- CMS should hold healthcare organizations accountable for investing in community-based health and improving social determinants of health.
- In emergencies, regulatory constraints regarding medical licenses should be removed.
- Work should be done to build an infrastructure that can integrate healthcare data across the local, state and federal levels. Institutions like Epic, Athenahealth and Google Health should participate.
- The Health Resources and Services Administration should establish a new federal partnership program that is dedicated to collaboration between public health and primary care focused on emergency preparedness.