Dartmouth links primary care quality to actions, not number of physicians

It's long been assumed that the more primary care physicians (PCP) serve a geographic population, the fewer avoidable hospitalizations and the lower rate of death for Medicare patients. But a Dartmouth report published this past May 2011 in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that mortality and hospitalizations are significantly lower in areas where there are more PCPs who work full time taking care of patients in ambulatory care office or clinic settings.