By: Dexter Braff

In TV Land’s version of health care, hospital docs have always gotten the glory: McDreamy at Seattle Grace; Denzel at St. Eligius; Clooney at Country General Hospital; Mandy Patinkin at Chicago Hope; and Zach Braff (no relation, but my kids claim him anyway) at Sacred Heart Hospital.

But how about some love for the primary docs?

Sure, there was Marcus Welby, but he spent quite a bit of time at Lang Memorial.

Well, primary care may be getting its due.

First, there was (is) the Patient Centered Medical Home, a care coordination model rooted in primary care.

In urgent care, where there was once a bright line between “retail” and primary care medicine, we are now seeing models blending the two as naturally complementary services.

Most notable, though, is the connection to behavioral health care, which is arguably the hottest segment in health care services mergers and acquisitions.

Recognizing that many of their patients lack primary care physicians that can (a) treat co-morbid conditions and (b) monitor patients post-treatment, addictions treatment providers, methadone clinics, and other mental health hospitals and clinics are increasingly developing strategies to integrate primary care into their service offerings.

In fact, if you google “primary care integration,” the first listings you see are position papers and strategies to integrate behavioral health and primary care from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Commonwealth Fund, and the National Council for Behavioral Health.

So the way health care is evolving, it may not be long before we see a black bag wielding, tongue depressor carrying, strep throat cultured primary care physician become one of the X-Men.

Or at least a member of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

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