Forbes: A Framework for the Design of Effective Primary Care Systems
Taara Chandani, consultant with ACCESS Health International, and William A. Haseltine, chair and president of ACCESS Health International

“Primary care is often the weakest link in many health systems. It is also the most important. … As part of our work on improving access to high quality and affordable primary care, ACCESS Health International created a framework for the design of primary care systems that are responsive to local needs. … The framework creates a strategic path for the design and evaluation of primary care interventions. Successful primary care needs to be an integral part of the broader health system, with clear linkages to secondary and tertiary care. Integration into the broad continuum of social and health care must underlie all our efforts, including implementation of this framework. We developed the framework in the context of India. We believe that it can be adapted and applied elsewhere anywhere, including here in the United States” (5/4).