The best resource to improve health equity is already embedded in the U.S. healthcare system: family physicians. But they cannot do the work alone, Tochi Iroku-Malize, MD, wrote in an opinion piece published May 17 in U.S. News and World Report.
"Family physicians form close relationships with patients and their families throughout their lives," Dr. Iroku-Malize wrote. "We are a trusted source of help and hope for our patients, and we bear witness to social and structural inequities impacting their health. We have a keen awareness of their communities and environments, and because of this, we are uniquely positioned to help bridge equity gaps."
The first step to fully utilizing family physicians is to adequately train physicians how to address social needs and secure a more robust and diverse workforce.
"To achieve a more diverse family medicine workforce, we must encourage diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives throughout medical education and cultivate workplaces that not only represent diversity but sincerely embrace, celebrate and promote it as well," she wrote. "However, we cannot address disparities in healthcare if there simply aren't enough physicians working in communities that need care the most."
Investing in programs that encourage medical students to choose primary care and family medicine as a specialty and funding more support for underserved communities are a good place to start. She also recommends increasing health literacy among communities to help break down barriers to care.
"It has never been more important to invest in primary care. The first-ever national primary care scorecard — authored by researchers with the Robert Graham Center and published earlier this year — highlighted that 'historic underinvestment and projected workforce shortages threaten the positive impact that primary care can have on the health of the nation.' It is a warning that should be heeded," Dr. Iroku-Malize wrote.
Family physicians are on the front lines of health equity and with more support from large organizations, they can do more, she concluded.