The primary care physician's office or clinic is the linchpin of the health care system. It's where most people begin to take action to prevent or manage disease, and where most health care expenditures take place. Primary Care offers solutions—based on a deep understanding of the world's health care systems—for patients who want more power over their health, doctors who want more time and treatment options, and payers who want to control costs.
Every health care system has a common denominator—the primary care provider. That could be a physician, a nurse practitioner or a physician's assistant. For many, however, working in primary care is less rewarding than it used to be. In the U.S., fewer medical students are going into primary care. Providers in practice today face every flashpoint in health care—more paperwork, more patients, less time with their patients, decreased reimbursement and less satisfaction in the work. That's where the people of Pfizer's Primary Care business unit come in. We can provide more than a slate of high-value, efficacious medicines. We can provide solutions that help primary care providers do what they do best—roll back the tide of chronic diseases, one patient at a time. Look at Chantix, for example. We're offering providers a new way to help treat patients who smoke, as they are often difficult to treat, due to the chronic, relapsing nature of nicotine addiction. Through Primary Care, those patients can get a proven prescription medicine and are offered continuous support through a behavior modification program designed to help them prepare for a life without cigarettes. The doctor and patient may reduce their frustrations over a chronic relapsing medical condition that results from an addiction that both know is not good for the patient. And payers get more for their money. The cost of covering lifelong smokers is significant. Wherever we can help primary care providers do more of the work they enjoy, such as helping patients tamp down the risks of chronic diseases, everyone involved comes out ahead—especially patients.
