A Health Care Cooperative Extension ServiceTransforming Primary Care and Community Health

Primary care is the essential foundation for an effective, efficient, and equitable health care system. Calls to rebuild the crumbling primary care infrastructure in the United States are reaching receptive ears, with public and private advisory groups including the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and the National Business Group on Health recommending increased payments for primary care.¹ The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)² of 2009 appropriated $19 billion for the purchase of health information technology (HIT), with primary care physicians' offices slated to be among the beneficiaries.