There’s an interesting read in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine on the future of primary care. And what you take from it depends 
on whether you have a glass half-empty or half-full philosophy.
The article – available here – includes the latest data portraying the continued waning interest in primary care among American medical school students.
Although American medical school students tend to prefer the salary and lifestyle of the specialties over primary care, and the Affordable Care Act provisions that would incentivize those students to pursue a primary care residency through increased Medicare and Medicaid payments hang in limbo until next month’s Supreme Court ruling, private payers appear committed to investing in primary care.
The article details primary care initiatives at Wellpoint, Aetna, United Health Care and Carefirst that offer a glimpse of hope that not only might primary care practices have an easier time attracting physicians in the future, but that their existing primary care docs will be better reimbursed for the services they’re already providing.