About Primary Care at Mass General

Massachusetts General Hospital provides primary care services to more than 200,000 adults and children in locations throughout Greater Boston.

Our primary care physicians (PCPs) are highly trained and board certified in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatric medicine and/or geriatrics, and serve on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School.

Personalized, Comprehensive Care

Your Mass General PCP is responsible for providing, directing and/or arranging for services to meet all of your health care needs. He or she is your resource for information and advice about staying healthy—and the first person to call if you have a health problem.

Nurses and others in the primary care practice where you receive care help your PCP to meet your needs. Your care team gets to know you well (and you, them) and welcomes your participation in decisions related to your care.

Patient-Centered Medical Home

Mass General primary care practices are becoming certified Patient-Centered Medical Homes by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) which reflects our commitment to provide education, guidance and coordination of health care to all our patients. This means that our focus and care is on the person as a whole, allowing your physician to spend more time with you.

Each dedicated health care team includes:

• A physician
• A nurse practitioner
• Nurses
• Administrative staff

Together, patients and their health care team create a health care plan that is personalized and coordinated to help patients stay healthy and to provide care when they need it. The team can help patients better understand their health care needs, maintain an accurate medication list or connect them with specialists if necessary. Patients will be encouraged to play an active part in their health care by asking questions, communicating with their health care team and collaborating to reach healthy goals.

A Focus on Community Health

Mass General owns and operates four community health centers, located in Boston's North End, Charlestown, Chelsea and Revere. These centers, whose shared mission is to improve the health and well-being of the diverse communities they serve, deliver:

• Comprehensive primary care and medical specialty services
• Diagnostic and therapeutic services not typically found close to home
• Services to accommodate the needs of many different cultures

Access to the Best Medicine

Whether your PCP is located in one of our neighborhood health centers or in a practice on the hospital's main campus, you will have access to:

• World-renowned specialists
• Internationally recognized services
• Cutting-edge research facilities
• The most advanced treatments for today's health concerns

In addition to Mass General, the Mass General Brigham HealthCare System includes Brigham and Women's Hospital and a number of other Massachusetts-based institutions.

Innovation in Primary Care

As one of the world’s foremost academic medical centers, our focus is not just on delivering excellent care but also improving the quality and delivery of primary medical care at each of our practices and health centers.

To help meet the needs of our patients, every Mass General primary care patient has a state-of-the-art electronic medical record so your PCP and medical specialists involved in your care have all the facts they need to determine the course of treatment. We are also implementing:

• Innovative technologies to support the doctor-patient relationship in adult and pediatric practices
• An “e-prescription” program in which physicians prescribe educational materials designed to involve patients and families in shared decision-making
• Other educational programs, tools and interventions to identify best clinical practices and improve care