The Jefferson Primary Care Research Center is a university-level structure that supports investigators from across disciplines who conduct research within the primary care environment.

The Research Center is the academic branch of Jefferson Primary Care, the largest primary care system in the Philadelphia area, which cares for over 600,000 people and is a major driver of regional community and population health.

The faculty affiliated with the Research Center span a broad range of backgrounds in clinical primary care; complementary clinical backgrounds such as oncology, emergency medicine, and psychiatry; and doctoral-level researchers with backgrounds in public health, biostatistics, and epidemiology. This multidisciplinary, interprofessional team focuses their careers on primary care as a research setting because of the powerful, holistic influence of primary care on human health. Jefferson Primary Care, the clinical system for primary care services at Jefferson Health, serves as the ‘laboratory’ for health services research for these diverse teams. 

Why is Primary Care Research Important?

“High-quality primary care is the provision of whole-person, integrated, accessible, and equitable health care by interprofessional teams that are accountable for addressing the majority of an individual’s health and wellness needs across settings and through sustained relationships with patients, families, and communities”

-- National Academy of Medicine, Implementing High-Quality Primary Care, 2021

• Primary care is the health system’s major driver for population health.
• Patients in our primary care system – we are accountable for their health holistically, comprehensively, and longitudinally, and we are committed to coordinated care that meets the patient’s goals. The study of health interventions and outcomes for our primary care population allows us to look at interventions in the context of the life of the patient, family, and community; and to follow long-term outcomes over time.
• As health care transforms nationally, primary care is the space of greatest innovation and will be the center of new business models of health care. The rapid transformation of health care that we are currently undergoing means a de-emphasizing of acute care hospitals, and a shift to new models of care including digital, ambulatory, and home-based care models; interprofessional teams; patient-driven modalities of access; and intensified services for high-needs patients.
• Real-world research settings: many trials study new medications, devices, or approaches to care in specialized settings. However, once the research studies are over, many of those interventions will be implemented in the primary care setting. By studying interventions in the setting where they will actually be administered, we can better understand the true benefits and risks, and the pathways to success.
• Diverse communities – allows us to be inclusive in our research, ensure that we understand how new care modalities work in different settings, and study how we can address social inequities and ensure equity in health services delivery for all of us. When we do research across the primary care network, we bring research opportunities to the communities where people live.
• Positions Jefferson Health as the premier model of an academic primary care system, thereby elevating our clinical care and our educational and training programs.