The Impact of COVID-19 on Primary Care Practice

Principal Investigators: Monisa Aijaz, MD, MPH, Valerie Lewis, PhD, Genevra Murray, PhD

 

COVID19 has caused dramatic changes to primary care access and delivery that present significant issues to the primary care workforce. First, primary care practices have cancelled large swaths of in person visits while working to rapidly implement telehealth. This is coupled with dramatic declines in revenue that present organizations with difficult financial choices.  The intensity of care under COVID19 likely may be increasing burnout among clinicians. Currently, information on these changes is largely anecdotal. We propose to conduct qualitative interviews with approximately 40 primary care practices in several states, purposively sampled across key dimensions (e.g. size, rurality, ownership).

 

Project Products: 

Manuscript

  • Aijaz M, Lewis VA, Murray GF. Advancing equity in challenging times: A qualitative study of telehealth expansion and changing patient–provider relationships in primary care settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital Health. 2024 Feb;10:20552076241233148.
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Research Brief
  • Aijaz, M., Lewis, V. Murray, G. Equity in Telehealth during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Semi-Structured Interviews with Primary Care Workforce. 2024 April 2. Policy Brief. Carolina Health Workforce Research Center, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, UNC-CH.
View the research brief

 

Abstract
  • Aijaz, M., Lewis, V. Murray, G. Equity in Telehealth during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Semi-Structured Interviews with Primary Care Workforce. 2024 April 2. Abstract. Carolina Health Workforce Research Center, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, UNC-CH.
View the abstract

 

Presentations, webinars, and refereed conference papers and posters
  • Aijaz M, Murray G, Lewis V. Equity in Telehealth during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Semi-Structured Interviews with Primary Care Workforce. Academy Health. 5 June 2022. Washington, D.C.
  • Murray, Genevra. “Understanding the influence of COVID-19 on the primary care workforce.” 27th Annual Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) NRSA Trainees Research Conference, virtual June 7, 2021.