Staffing Patterns of Primary Care Practices in the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative

This article describes staffing patterns for nearly 500 primary care practices in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Comprehensive Primary Care initiative before the initiative began. The study found most of the practices used traditional staffing models and did not report having dedicated staff who may be integral to new primary care models, such as care coordinators, health educators, behavioral health specialists, and pharmacists. The authors note that this restricted staff composition is not surprising given the current fee-for-service payment environment. They conclude that without access to such staff–and payment for their services–practices are unlikely to deliver comprehensive, coordinated, and accessible care at a sustainable cost.