Primary Care

Primary care is the initial point of contact between a patient and the healthcare system that provides individuals with access to the information and resources they need for optimal health outcomes.

What is Primary Care?

Primary care is the initial point of contact between a patient and the healthcare system that provides individuals with access to the information and resources they need for optimal health outcomes.

Effective Communication in Primary Care Teams

Benefits of Primary Care Intervention

Benefits of Primary Health Care

Multidisciplinary Primary Care Teams

Choosing a Primary Care Provider

Strategies to Improve Shortage of Primary Health Care

Latest Primary Care News and Research

New dual blood test reduces false positives in Alzheimer's screening

Alzheimer's disease is characterised by the accumulation of two proteins in the brain: amyloid-beta and tau.

23 Mar 2026

Rising health costs push some middle-aged adults to skip the doc until Medicare

John Galvin knows he needs a colonoscopy. But he's waiting to schedule the procedure until December, when he turns 65 and qualifies for Medicare.

23 Mar 2026

Inefficient referral pathways delay lifesaving care for millions of injured people

Many seriously injured patients in Global South countries are failing to reach medical care within the lifesaving 'golden hour' and ambulances are often associated with these delays.

23 Mar 2026

Losing health insurance worsens diabetes outcomes in low-income adults

Losing health insurance can quickly worsen health for people with diabetes as patients struggle to control the disease after coverage is interrupted, according to new research from Oregon Health & Science University,

22 Mar 2026

Young women face rising mortality rates from high blood pressure

Nearly 1 in 2 Americans has high blood pressure—sometimes called the "silent killer" because it harms the heart and blood vessels—but many people don't know they have it.

19 Mar 2026

Lawmakers seek to protect crisis pregnancy centers as abortion clinic numbers shrink

Conservative lawmakers in multiple states are pushing legislation drafted by an anti-abortion advocacy group to increase protections for crisis pregnancy centers, organizations that provide some health-related services but also work to dissuade women from having abortions.

19 Mar 2026

New tool helps thousands achieve better blood pressure control

A blood pressure program adopted across the University of California's six academic medical centers has effectively lowered hypertension and prevented serious disease or death for thousands of patients, according to a new study led by UC San Francisco.

18 Mar 2026

Pre-pandemic health patterns influence risk of developing post-COVID

Women who frequently sought healthcare for recurring symptoms before the pandemic were more likely to later be diagnosed with post-COVID, according to a thesis at the University of Gothenburg.

18 Mar 2026

Why are men missing cancer tests despite higher positive rates?

A study highlights a gap in cancer prevention, showing men undergo genetic testing less often yet are more likely to carry high-risk cancer variants.

18 Mar 2026

Automated system boosts maternal smoking cessation in pediatric care

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) found that a new automated tobacco treatment system integrated into routine pediatric care helped drive a 3.9% absolute increase in smoking cessation among mothers – a population-level impact that could translate to tens of thousands of parents quitting each year and protect hundreds of thousands of children from harmful secondhand smoke exposure.

17 Mar 2026

Physical activity may reshape brain effects of childhood trauma

New research indicates that the long-term neurological impact of childhood trauma is not permanently etched onto the brain.

17 Mar 2026

Blood pressure readings may help identify future dementia risk

Measures of blood vessel health derived from routine blood pressure readings may help identify adults at increased risk for dementia, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

17 Mar 2026

Psychiatrists’ use of biomarkers could open a new window into mental health diagnoses

Amanda Miller was 30 and pregnant with her second child in Hershey, Pennsylvania, when she developed depression.

17 Mar 2026

Extended monitoring identifies many more severe pregnancy complication cases

Extending the monitoring period for severe pregnancy complications showed more than 40% of cases were missed using traditional delivery-focused monitoring, according to new research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.251425 that extended monitoring from conception to 6 weeks postpartum.

16 Mar 2026

Older Americans willing to travel farther for medical care

Older Americans are willing to travel far for medical care - sometimes much farther than policymakers and experts assume, according to researchers at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

13 Mar 2026

Google’s AI medical assistant shows doctor-level diagnostic reasoning in real clinic study

A prospective feasibility study in an urgent care clinic tested a conversational AI system (AMIE) with 100 real patients to evaluate whether it could safely collect medical histories before doctor visits. The supervised AI showed no safety stops, produced diagnostic reasoning comparable to clinicians in blinded reviews, and improved patients’ attitudes toward medical AI.

12 Mar 2026

Everyday wearable data could reveal early brain health signals

Wearable sensors combined with AI offer a novel approach to continuous monitoring of cognitive and emotional health, detecting early changes in brain function.

12 Mar 2026

MUSC’s new manual for navigating dementia

For an estimated 11% of Americans over age 65 who have dementia and the over 11 million unpaid caregivers supporting them, there is no instruction manual for navigating life after diagnosis. A team of College of Nursing researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina is working to fill that gap.

12 Mar 2026

Primary care is in trouble. So doctors band together to boost their market power.

Western Massachusetts, a patchwork of rural communities and low-income cities, is a difficult place to find a primary care doctor if you don't already have one.

11 Mar 2026

ADHD prescriptions surged during the COVID-19 pandemic

A study reveals COVID-19 reshaped stimulant prescribing patterns in Ontario, highlighting increased ADHD diagnoses and concerns over treatment appropriateness.

11 Mar 2026