Workplace-based assessment is now widespread throughout medicine. If carried out well, such assessments reconnect teaching and testing to the benefit of the learner. But workplace-based assessment brings a unique set of challenges to medical education and requires fresh thinking about how we consider and construct assessment programmes.
The integration of behavioral health in primary care is critical for addressing worldwide concerns for access to, and quality of, health care services for physical and mental health promotion, prevention, and disease management. Clearly, promoting knowledge exchange internationally is critical to progress. In late 2015, the American Psychological Association convened an interdisciplinary summit on global approaches to integrated health care, bringing together 82 health care professionals (nurses, primary care physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers) and scholars from diverse disciplines in medicine, psychology, economics, health policy, public health, and demography; participants came from 10 countries. The Global Summit provided an opportunity to share best practices and innovation in patient-centered integrated health care internationally. In this article, Global Summit participants from different countries reflect on the Editor's note. This article developed from a presidential initiative of the 2015 APA president, Barry S. Anton, which led to an interdisciplinary summit on global approaches to integrated health care convened by APA in November 2015.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider how the evolving concept of the “primary care home” (PCH) that is developing in England might be an effective vehicle for the delivery of the goals of “population health”. The authors examine evidence from earlier initiatives to achieve similar objectives of primary care-led health system planning and care integration to understand relevant lessons for the PCH.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a descriptive review of the PCH using documentary sources and a non-systematic review of literature relating to primary care commissioning initiatives and recent initiatives to deliver general practice services on a larger scale.
Findings
The PCH is likely to bring forth relatively high engagement from general practitioners due to its neighbourhood scale, voluntary nature and its focus on professional partnership, personalisation of care and outcomes. It is important that participants have sufficient autonomy to act and that financial incentives are aligned with the goals of population health. It is also important that, unlike some earlier primary care initiatives, the PCH is given time to develop to maturity.
Originality/value
The PCH is a recent phenomenon that is developing in England and elsewhere. This paper locates the PCH within a historical context and draws conclusions from a relevant evidence base.
This is a small pilot with a keen group of GP trainees. Further research is needed to determine if such an approach provides meaningful changes to patient outcomes and whether such approaches are cost-effective.
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