Primary Care Collaborative

What We’re Reading – 3/6/26 - PCC Every other week, the Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) gathers major new stories, opinion pieces, research articles, case studies and more covering primary care. Want to submit a piece? Feel free to e...

Every other week, the PCC rounds up the latest primary care news. 📰

Today's edition covers simplifying value-based primary care by reducing administrative burdens, news and data on the state of primary care in ME, CA and DE and more.

Give it a read! ⬇️
thepcc.pub/wwrmarch626

Why CMS ACCESS Is Reshaping Medicare Chronic Care Explore how the CMS ACCESS Model shifts Medicare from fee-for-service to outcome-aligned payments and what it means for chronic care delivery at scale.

A recent blog from Innovaccer highlights @smbmathbiology.bsky.social's evaluation of chronic care management services, conducted for CMS.

Learn key insights this great rundown⬇️
innovaccer.com/blogs/before...

The PCC Joins over 145 Orgs Urging Congress to Fully Fund & Staff AHRQ - PCC The Primary Care Collaborative joined more than 255 organizations in signing onto the annual Friends of AHRQ appropriations letter. The letter urges Congress to fully fund AHRQ at $500 million in FY27...

The PCC joined more than 255 orgs in signing onto the annual Friends of AHRQ appropriations letter urging Congress to fully fund the AHRQ at $500 million in FY27 and ensure that the agency has sufficient staff to manage its obligations.

Read the letter ⬇️
thepcc.pub/fundahrqletter

Primary Care Investment Guide - PCC Want more insights about the Primary Care Investment Guide? Tune into PCC’s release webinar featuring researchers from Harvard Medical School and a reactor panel featuring leaders at the federal, stat...

Investing in primary care is investing in the future of America’s health.

@harvardmed.bsky.social’s Primary Care Investment Guide shows how advanced primary care supports whole-person care. ⬇️
thepcc.pub/investmentgu...

The PCC Policy team was excited to attend Accountable For Healths's meeting for Health Care #ValueWeek.

We heard from CMS and CMS Innovation Center leaders on accountable care priorities and look forward to how these insights can help reduce administrative burden and improve care access.

The Role of Medicare Alternative Payment Models in Supporting the Essential Features of Primary Care Background: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has launched multiple alternative payment models (APMs) to address limitations with fee-for-service payments in traditional Medicare…

A new issue brief from PCC member @mathematicanow.bsky.social finds that primary care practices in “hybrid” APMs without financial risk improved on all core primary care features of access, comprehensiveness, continuity and coordination.

An informative read here ⬇️

Exploring New Models That Encourage Primary Care ACO Participation CMS Innovation Center execs join stakeholders in discussing goals of Primary Care Flex, LEAD models

In case you missed it: Healthcare Innovation Group covered our recent webinar on strategies to enhance primary care ACO participation.

Check out this great write-up from David Raths on the conversation ⬇️

Intermountain Health's Dr. Brenda Reiss-Brennan envisions a health care system where whole-person, team-based primary care is recognized and governed as a common good and a fundamental human right.

Check out our full interview with this primary care champion: thepcc.pub/reissbrennan...

an ad for an upcoming PEPC webinar

How can payment model design better support independent practices and expand meaningful patient choice?

Join PEPC for a great webinar on the topic TODAY with PCC's own Larry McNeely at 2 pm.

There's still time to register for the event below ⬇️
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Simplifying Value-Based Primary Care by Reducing Administrative Burdens - PCC This PCC issue brief provides solutions for simplifying value-based primary care by reducing administrative burdens.

A new PCC issue brief explores how policymakers and other decision makers can reduce administrative burdens and streamline participation in value-based models.

Give it a read ⬇️
thepcc.pub/Reducing-Adm...

Maine’s primary care shortage is expected to worsen. Experts are planning solutions. Maine is graduating more doctors, but experts say increasing the primary care workforce is hampered by several issues.

Maine faces a primary care shortage. Workforce gaps are growing as doctors retire and barriers to training persist. Although experts and communities are working on solutions, there’s more work to be done.

More from @joelawlorph.bsky.social in @pressherald.com:
www.pressherald.com/2026/02/26/m...

Strengthening California’s Primary Care Team Workforce: Data and Recommendations for Action - California Health Care Foundation Explore the current state of the California primary care workforce and recommendations for comprehensive health solutions.

Primary care is the foundation of our health care system. Yet access to timely, comprehensive primary care remains out of reach for millions of Californians.

Check out a new report on data and recommendations for action from PCC Member @chcfnews.bsky.social ⬇️
www.chcf.org/resource/str...

Primary Care Champion: Dr. Brenda Reiss-Brennan - PCC Dr. Brenda Reiss-Brennan is a medical anthropologist and psychiatric nurse practitioner working in primary care and forwarding mental health integration (MHI) for over 45 years.  The Primary Care Col...

The PCC is thrilled to name Dr. Brenda Reiss-Brennan, Intermountain Health MHI Implementation Science Senior Advisor and PCC Whole-Person Care Workgroup Member, as our latest primary care champion.

Watch our insightful interview with her and read highlights ⬇️
thepcc.org/news/primary...

Strengthening Primary Care Participation in ACOs - PCC This PCC webinar explores strategies for how policymakers and industry leaders can encourage primary care to participate in ACOs.

On February 24, the PCC hosted a conversation examining how policymakers can strengthen primary care participation in accountable care organizations (ACOs) to improve outcomes and contain costs in Medicare.

View the full webinar and key highlights below:
thepcc.org/webinar/stre...

At PCC’s 2025 Evidence Report webinar, @dukemargolis.bsky.social's Frank McStay discussed how CMS’s HCPLAN can help better understand how rural patients engage with in-person care and telehealth.

Learn more ⬇️
thepcc.pub/closingthedi...

Behavioral Health Integration, including the Primary Care Behavioral Health model and the Collaborative Care Model Embedded Clinical Pharmacists to optimize medication management and chronic disease control Care Management for patients with complex medical or social needs Population Health Programs that use data to close care gaps and proactively manage chronic disease Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and Disparities Initiatives, including systematic screening and community health worker support E-Consults, enabling rapid, specialist input and reducing avoidable referrals

@harvardmed.bsky.social's Primary Care Investment Guide outlines six team-based services improve health outcomes, reduce costs, enhance patient experience, support workforce wellbeing and advance equity.

Read the guide and learn more ⬇️
thepcc.pub/investmentgu...

Clinics Sour on CMS After Agency Scraps 10-Year Primary Care Program Only Months In - KFF Health News A planned 10-year federal program called Making Care Primary was supposed to help primary care doctors by easing administrative burdens, allowing them to focus on improving patients’ health. A year af...

CMS abruptly canceled its Making Care Primary model a year into the program, shutting the planned decade-long primary care investment that promised up to $10 million to rural practices.

KFF Health News dives into what clinics in western NC are saying ⬇️
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

We studied primary care in 6 rich countries – it’s under unprecedented strain everywhere Like other high-income countries, Australia and New Zealand are leaning on GPs to solve increasingly complex health needs – without the necessary investment.

Across the U.S. and other high-income countries, the primary care workforce is shrinking while administrative demands keep growing.

If we want fewer ER visits and better outcomes, we need real investment in primary care. More in @us.theconversation.com ⬇️
theconversation.com/we-studied-p...

Strengthening Primary Care Participation in ACOs all speakers graphic

Join the PCC for a conversation exploring policy solutions that can improve quality of care for seniors and generate savings by increasing primary care participation in  ACOs. 

Learn more and register for the webinar below ⬇️
thepcc.org/webinar/stre...

Campaign Senior Director - PCC The Primary Care Collaborative is hiring a Campaign Director for the BHN campaign, the PCC’s advocacy initiative to strengthen primary care.

The Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) seeks a Campaign Director for the Better Health – NOW campaign, the PCC's principal advocacy initiative to strengthen primary care and improve the nation's health.

Learn more about the position and apply below. ⬇️
thepcc.org/careers/camp...

New research shows adults with chronic conditions who have a regular primary care clinician cut health costs in half and reduce hospitalizations by 20%. Despite this, only 5% of U.S. health spending goes to primary care.

More from @marketplace.org:

At Harvard Medical School's Primary Care Investment Guide release, Health Net's Dr. Todd May outlined challenges to adopting hybrid payment models, including payer resistance to collaboration and lack of transparency on how funds flow to the front lines.

Learn more ⬇️
thepcc.pub/bolsteringpr...

Strengthening Primary Care Participation in ACOs - PCC This PCC webinar explores strategies for how policymakers and industry leaders can encourage primary care to participate in ACOs.

On February 24, join the PCC for a discussion on approaches in MSSP, the new LEAD model and other ways to help more primary care practices embrace and succeed in ACO models.

Learn more and register here: thepcc.org/webinar/stre...

Every other week, the PCC rounds up the latest primary care news. 📰

Today's edition covers CMS's new primary care investments, California’s new Primary Care Snapshot, rural transformation efforts, promising ACO results and more.

Give it a read! ⬇️

Concierge medicine is growing fast. Many primary care clinicians say the model helps reduce burnout, but there are also concerns raised about access as primary care shortages continue.

More in @marketplace.org ⬇️

Although CMS policies move us toward rebalancing our payment system, policymakers must build on these gains and ultimately double primary care investment through value-based approaches.

More from Ann Greiner and Namrata Uberoi in a new blog ⬇️

PCC Statement for Aging Committee Hearing on Clinician Burnout and Administrative Burden - PCC The Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) submitted a Statement for the Record to the Senate Special Committee on Aging for its hearing, “The Doctor Is Out: How Washington’s Rules Drove Physicians Out of M...

The PCC has submitted a Statement for the Record to the Senate Special Committee on Aging for a Senate hearing on clinician burnout and administrative burden.

Read our full statement ⬇️
thepcc.org/letters/pcc-...

Strengthening Primary Care Participation in ACOs - PCC This PCC webinar explores strategies for how policymakers and industry leaders can encourage primary care to participate in ACOs.

ACOs have been shown to generate greater savings for Medicare, presumably because of better care management and better outcomes.

On February 24, join the PCC for a discussion on potential strategies to improve primary care’s participation in ACOs. ⬇️
thepcc.org/webinar/stre...

Primary care is in trouble. Doctors are banding together to increase market power As costs increase, primary care practices are joining forces in Independent Physician Associations. The goal is to leverage better insurance contracts, while ensuring doctors still call the shots.

When reimbursement falls short, independent practices struggle to participate in value-based care. If we want better outcomes and lower costs, we have to invest a lot more in primary care.

Check out a new @npr.org piece from Karen Brown ⬇️
www.npr.org/2026/02/16/n...

Through her early work in rural North Carolina, Susan Edgman-Levitan learned that delivering whole-person care requires understanding patients’ lived realities, including their environmental circumstances.

Watch our interview with this primary care champion: thepcc.pub/edgmanlevita...