Media Alert: ACP Predicts Looming Crisis in Primary Care

Challenges and Solutions from the Physician, Business, and Patient Perspective

WHO: David C. Dale, MD, FACP, president of American College of Physicians (ACP), moderator
Paul Grundy, MD, IBM director of health care, technology and strategic planning
Debra Ness, president of National Partnership for Women & Families
Helen Darling, president of National Business Group on Health
Yul D. Ejnes, MD, FACP, incoming chair of ACP’s Medical Service Committee
Ryan D. Mire, MD, FACP, member of ACP’s Council of Young Physicians

WHAT: Panel Discussion on The Impending Collapse of Primary Care

WHERE: Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW, Washington, DC, Room 141

WHEN: May 16, 2008, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

WHY: A panel discussion featuring practicing internists and representatives from the business and patient advocacy communities will provide their perspectives on the state of primary care today, and the related challenges and potential solutions for improving U.S. health care.

The U.S. faces an insufficient supply of primary care physicians, particularly in general internal medicine. Internists are under-reimbursed compared to other specialists, and many primary care physicians are struggling to keep their practices open at a time of escalating health care costs and excessive administrative and regulatory costs.

Payment disparities have turned our nation's health care upside down, and fewer medical students are choosing specialties like internal medicine that focus on managing the health of the whole patient. The trend is likely to continue given the reimbursement disparities and colossal loans facing medical students.

Primary care is the backbone of the health care system. More than ever, Americans need access to qualified primary care physicians to manage multiple chronic conditions as baby boomers gray and disease rates for obesity, diabetes, and hypertension increase. A health care system without internal medicine and other primary care specialties will result in lower quality, higher costs, and greater patient dissatisfaction.

Join a discussion about why employers and consumers have joined with ACP and other stakeholders to reform the U.S. health care system. Find out what these different groups feel needs to be done in our health care system to encourage primary care. And find out why they support innovative models of primary care, including the patient-centered medical home.

The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization and the second-largest physician group in the United States. ACP members include 125,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists, and medical students. Internists specialize in the prevention, detection, and treatment of illness in adults. For more information on ACP policies, visit www.acponline.org/advocacy.

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