Primary care in the United States has long been undervalued. Can companies moving into this space address its chronic problem — namely, that it is undervalued and undercompensated? There are three strategies they could employ: use primary care as a loss leader for their mainstay business; make fee-for-service primary care more profitable by increasing its productivity; apply a capitation model and assume the financial risk of the cost of care.
CVS-Aetna, Walgreens, Walmart, Amazon, Optum-United Health Group — they’re all buying primary care practices or
