The Right Mix

Obviously, primary care is essential to a well-functioning and effective healthcare system.  However there must be a delicate balance between primary care, specialty care, and services provided through a hospital since not one functions well without the other components.  Although I am not sure that this balance can be easily assigned numbers that will truly match the need, I would advocate for a system comprised of 45-35-20. 

In other words, primary care should be the major component of a healthcare system, accounting for 45% of services rendered.  A primary care physician can best filter through the cases in need of specialty care.  This aspect should account for a total of 35%, and the remaining 20% should be hospital services.  The majority of people need simple primary care, thus a majority over the other two categories.  Although some people would argue that 45% for primary care is not enough of a majority, I am taking several factors into account in my estimation.  First, the people who truly need only primary care visit the physician much less frequently than those needing specialty care.  This is due to the simple fact that most people whom require specialty care need extensive follow up visits.  Also, many people that do not receive specialty care simply do not ever receive medical attention because they feel they are too healthy to visit a doctor only for wellness visits. 

Similarly, the amount of specialty care should be higher than the hospital services for two reasons: 1) A portion of those people requiring specialty care can be taken care of outside of a hospital setting.  2) Many patients that receive hospital services can be triaged and stabilized, then sent home with a schedule of follow-up procedures from a specialty care physician.  Therefore, not only will this ratio of 45-35-20 help keep specialty care costs to a minimum, it will allow for the allocation resources to best improve the overall health of a nation.