WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- The United States should have a national strategy on primary care, the care patients receive on first contact with the healthcare system, health advocates say.
A report released Friday by the Hope Street Group urges healthcare deliverers to reorient primary care fundamentally toward prevention, wellness and active disease management, a Hope release said.
"Today we offer a collective call to action to the entire healthcare ecosystem to embrace the mandate for system-wide transformation, and it starts with primary care," Monique Nadeau, president and CEO of the Hope Street Group, said. "We have found vast common ground in the belief that primary care is the most powerful lever with which to slash healthcare costs while improving health outcomes and thus economic opportunity for all Americans."
Primary care is the often overlooked but richest opportunity to progress against what ails the nation's healthcare system, the Hope Street Group says.
Among its recommendations, the report urges empowering consumers to take personal responsibility for improving their health through education, interactive tools and incentives.
