Measures that Matter: The Importance of Doctor-Patient Relationships in Primary Care

Dr. Robert Phillips, MD, Executive Director of the Center for Professionalism and Value in Health Care, American Board of Family Medicine, and Professor of Family Medicine at Georgetown University and Virginia Commonwealth University discusses the American Board of Family Medicine’s new survey which highlights the importance of doctor-patient relationships in primary care and efforts to measure and support the improvements.

Robert Phillips, MD, MSPH directs the Center for Professionalism and Value in Health Care which aims to create space in which patients, health professionals, payers, and policymakers can work to renegotiate the social contract. Dr. Phillips is also responsible for overseeing the American Board of Family Medicine’s (ABFM) research and related collaborations, as well as the policy relationships related to family medicine and primary care. Prior to being named executive director of the center in 2018, Dr. Phillips was the ABFM Vice President for Research and Policy. From 2004 until 2012, Dr. Phillips was the director of the Robert Graham Center, a health policy research center in Washington, DC.

Dr. Phillips currently practices one day each week in a community-based residency program in Fairfax, Virginia, and is Professor of Family Medicine at Georgetown University and Virginia Commonwealth University. He previously served on the American Medical Association’s Council on Medical Education, as president of the National Residency Matching Program, and as vice chair of the US Council on Graduate Medical Education. Dr. Phillips currently serves as co-chair of the Population Health Subcommittee and as a member of the executive committee of the National Committee for Vital and Health Statistics. He served as a Fulbright Specialist to the Netherlands in 2012 and New Zealand in 2016.