MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sara Martin, MD, MSc Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency Program Santa Rosa, California MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: To improve access to comprehensive primary care, we need to understand how much is being spent on primary care. Until recently, the United States lacked any data-based estimate of primary care expenditure.  This study utilizes Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS)data from 2002 – 2016 to estimate the percentage of healthcare expenditures that was spent on primary care. Most discussions around health care expenditure in the U.S. focus on the fact that we spend more than any other country and do not have the corresponding outcomes to match that investment.  This paper focuses the conversation around the distribution of the expenditure. (more…)