As integrated teams we will provide access to the whole range of primary medical and health care services. A Prescription for Renewal . It is a new model for primary care, but a model that will allow us to remain multi-dimensional in providing medical care to our patients. Governments, although they initiated primary care reforms without the involvement of organized medicine, now realize the difficulties they have created. The same problems of access to care and increasing health care costs persist.
Governments now seem prepared to work with health care providers to find achievable solutions.
Most countries with successful public health care systems have a primary care component led by family doctors. The services provided by family doctors contribute greatly to their quality and cost-effectiveness. Clearly, the voice of family medicine needs to be heard and our input valued when governments revise the system of health care services in Canada. We must be partners in the effort to improve our health care system. In our role as providers of individual care, coordinators of care, patient advocates, resource managers, and population health managers, family doctors are a valuable asset to the Canadian medical care system.