HCFO Grantee quoted in Chicago Tribune news blog "A Crisis in Primary Care Accelerates"

Ann O'Malley, senior health researcher at the Center for Studying Health System Change, was quoted in the November 23, 2008 Chicago Tribune news blog, "A Crisis in Primary Care Accelerates." [1]The news blog discusses the current state of primary care and highlights findings from a Physicians Foundation survey. O'Malley states, "(Primary care physicians') incomes are lower than surgeons and other specialists, and a lot of what (they) do is not compensated.The time they spend coordinating care on the phone, talking to social workers, and talking to specialists about care provided to the same patients just does not get compensated." In a HCFO-sponsored study, O'Malley is documenting "best practices" that physician offices have developed to coordinate care and identifying challenges and lessons learned.