SPOTLIGHT: Upping pay for primary care

It's no surprise presidential hopefuls are giving us an earful on their healthcare reform proposals. The thing is, unless they acknowledge one critical issue--the growing scarcity of primary-care physicians--their proposals may be dead in the water, says Debra Geihsler, president and CEO of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates.  Aspiring primary care doctors face high educational costs and low reimbursement, a deadly combination which pushes them into other specialties. One solution to this problem, however, would be to put an emphasis on paying PCPs to coordinate care and improve health quality, she says. Article [1]