Excellence in Primary Care Physician (PCP) and Geriatrics Community-Based Practice: Meeting the Institute of Medicine’s Care Management Standards.

The community-based internist and geriatric primary care physicians (PCPs) or medical doctors (MDs) have long been the most prevalent providers of primary care to populations who have chronic illness and/or are elderly in the United States. This article addresses the strategies for disease management (DM) that physicians in nonmature health care markets are utilizing to address unmet needs and suggestions for improved collaboration to provide improved evidence-based care. Other primary care providers are involved in the care of populations who have chronic illness and/or are elderly (e.g., advanced practice nurses and physician assistants). This article focuses on physician practice and current market realities affecting physicians to provide DM in populations that have chronic illness and/or are elderly (need complex care management). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]