Arranging generalism in the 2020 primary health care team

Abstract

The Australian Primary Health Care System is at a crossroad. We are faced with a burgeoning workforce crisis, a complicated model of private and public health care funding, and changes to the scope of practice of GPs, nurses and other allied health staff who comprise primary care teams in Australia. Both the Canadian and United States health care systems provide useful contrasts to consider as Australia builds a National Primary Health Care Strategy. One element of health care is shared universally: patients will increasingly present with complex, multiple problems rather single disease specific conditions. New developments in the U.S. in the Patient-Centred Medical Home (PCMH) movement signify important directions for primary health care. Canadian efforts to build a Pan-Canadian strategy to resolve provincial differences are also of interest including the challenges of inter-professional collaboration faced within family health teams (FHTs). These developments signal that coordination of care across territorial and disciplinary boundaries is critical to the future of the health care system; they provide important international examples that can inform policy developments in Australia. Show more