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Article: Health panel zeroes in on primary care
- Article from:
- Missoulian
- Article date:
- December 21, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright The Missoulian Dec 21, 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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HELENA - A Montana citizen panel chosen by U.S. Sen. Max Baucus to advise him on health care reform has plenty of ideas - and many target a growing problem with the American health care system: not enough primary care doctors.
Nearly half of the 47 recommendations by the 30-person advisory panel aim to increase the number and role of primary care physicians, which are the family doctors, internists and others who provide general care and preventive medicine.
"We need to improve primary care; I think that's generally understood," says Dr. Tom Roberts, president of the Western Montana Clinic in Missoula. "And yet, if you look at the special interests that determine what health care is in this ...