FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015
Contact:
Megan Moriarty
Public Relations Strategist
(800) 274-2237, Ext. 5223
mmoriarty@aafp.org
WASHINGTON — Countries with stronger primary care systems are associated with improved population health care, including fewer overall deaths, fewer deaths by any cause that occur sooner than expected, and fewer deaths caused by a stated health condition. That’s why The Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care has worked for 15 years to enhance primary care delivery in the United States.
Of the Center’s many research dissemination tools, The Robert Graham Center Primary Care Forums are brief panel presentations that focus on timely issues in primary care followed by open discussions by attendees. The Forums are designed to capture the interest of policy makers including congressional staffers and Washington-based professionals. Topics are of both domestic and international interest. Recent examples include “Disruptive Innovations in Primary Care,” “Telehealth in Primary Care” and “Building a Primary Care Workforce in Rural America.”
The Center has recently announced that U.S. House of Representatives Ami Bera, an internal medicine physician, and Joe Heck, an emergency medicine physician, will act as co-chairs for the Center Forums during the 114th Congress.
“The Graham Center focuses much their work on the most important aspects of health care--how to get the right care to the right people at the right time,” said Bera, who represents California’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. “As a doctor of internal medicine who’s worked extensively in public health, I have found their research and open forum discussions to be extremely informative on matters that should concern us all, such as improving access to primary care through telehealth and rural training.”
“As a physician, I understand the importance of good health at both the individual and population levels,” said Heck, U.S. Representative from Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District. “The Graham Center’s research on quality and access to primary health care has helped inform the health care debate that continues in this country.”
The next Graham Center Primary Care Forum is entitled “Achieving the Triple Aim: Linking Clinical Health Services and Public Health to Improve Outcomes & Costs.” It will be Thursday, March 5, 2015, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. EST, in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, Congressional Meeting Room North, East Capitol Street & 1st Street SE, Washington, DC 20004. Lunch is served at 11:45 a.m. followed by discussion noon – 1 p.m.
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About the Robert Graham Center
The Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care works to improve individual and population health by enhancing the delivery of primary care. The Center staff generates and analyzes evidence that brings a family medicine and primary care perspective to health policy deliberations at local, state, and national levels.
Founded in 1999, the Robert Graham Center is an independent research unit affiliated with the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The information and opinions contained in research from the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or policy of the AAFP.