John Heintzman, MD, MPH; Miguel Marino, PhD
Corresponding Author: John Heintzman, MD, MPH; Oregon Health and Science University. Email: heintzma@ohsu.edu
Section: Special Communication
Publication Date: July 23, 2021
Eliminating health and healthcare inequities is a longstanding stated goal of multiple United States (US) health agencies, but overwhelming scientific evidence suggests that health and healthcare inequities persist in the US, despite decades of research and initiatives to ameliorate them. Because of its comprehensiveness, studying health inequities in the context of primary care allows for the use of multiple paradigms and methodologic approaches to understand almost any state of health, disease, social challenge, or societal circumstance a patient or group of patients might face. We argue in this special communication that the many features/advantages of primary care research have valuable contributions to make in reducing health inequity, and scientists, journals, and funders should increase the incorporation of primary care approaches and findings into their portfolios in order to better understand and end health inequity.