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September 2005 (Volume 83)
Quarterly Article
Barbara Starfield
Leiyu Shi
James Macinko
June 2022
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Evidence of the health-promoting influence of primary care has been accumulating ever since researchers have been able to distinguish primary care from other aspects of the health services delivery system. This evidence shows that primary care helps prevent illness and death, regardless of whether the care is characterized by supply of primary care physicians, a relationship with a source of primary care, or the receipt of important features of primary care. The evidence also shows that primary care (in contrast to specialty care) is associated with a more equitable distribution of health in populations, a finding that holds in both cross-national and within-national studies. The means by which primary care improves health have been identified, thus suggesting ways to improve overall health and reduce differences in health across major population subgroups.
Author(s): Barbara Starfield; Leiyu Shi; James Macinko
Keywords: primary care; health outcomes; population health
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Volume 83, Issue 3 (pages 457–502) DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0009.2005.00409.x Published in 2005