Building Pandemic-Resilient Primary Care Systems: Lessons Learned From COVID-19

• Published in: Journal of medical Internet research Vol. 26; no. 4; p. e47667
• Main Authors: Jeong, Yejin, Crowell, Trevor, Devon-Sand, Anna, Sakata, Theadora, Sattler, Amelia, Shah, Shreya, Tsai, Timothy, Lin, Steven
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Canada Journal of Medical Internet Research 23-02-2024; JMIR Publications
• Subjects: Communication; COVID-19; Epidemics; Health planning; Humans; Intention; Pandemics - prevention & control; Primary Health Care; Public health; Telemedicine; COVID-19; internet-based care; telemedicine; barrier; digital health; telehealth; implementation; primary care; resilient system; pandemic; resilience
• ISSN: 1438-8871; 1439-4456; 1438-8871
• DOI: 10.2196/47667

On January 30, 2023, the Biden Administration announced its intention to end the existing COVID-19 public health emergency declaration. The transition to a "postpandemic" landscape presents a unique opportunity to sustain and strengthen pandemic-era changes in care delivery. With this in mind, we present 3 critical lessons learned from a primary care perspective during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, clinical workflows must support both in-person and internet-based care delivery. Second, the integration of asynchronous care delivery is critical. Third, planning for the future means planning for everyone, including those with potentially limited access to health care due to barriers in technology and communication. While these lessons are neither unique to primary care settings nor all-encompassing, they establish a grounded foundation on which to construct higher-quality, more resilient, and more equitable health systems.