How do we bend the cost curve downward? This is a tough question with no single correct answer, but we can all help. Some health care organizations have already reduced costs significantly without sacrificing quality by using team-based primary care as their foundation. Two examples are Nuka Health and Iora Health.5,6
As primary care physicians, we are in an ideal position to constrain unnecessary testing and treatments by establishing trusting relationships with patients, who will believe us when we tell them they don’t need an antibiotic for their chest cold or an MRI for their back pain.
If we control the cost of providing care, insurance premiums will follow suit.