People-Centered Integrated Primary Healthcare: Conceptual Framework and Key Components

People-Centered Integrated Primary Healthcare (PCIPHC): Also known as PHC-led People-Centered Integrated Care, PCIPHC highlights the importance and unique functions of frontline health workers serving patients and the broader community, emphasizing that PHC is an integral part of the overall healthcare system rather than a standalone delivery system.Primary Healthcare (PHC) Functions: Within the PCIPHC system, PHC serves not only as a healthcare delivery system, providing various preventive and curative services, but also performs a coordinating function that ensures integration across the health system and beyond. It acts as a patient advocate and/or patient agent, guiding patients to appropriate services at the right time and place. PHC also plays a critical role in managing patient care and coordinating follow-up services, ensuring a seamless experience within the broader PCIPHC system.Co-production of Health Services: In PCIPHC, patients and communities are actively included in decision-making and the co-production of activities and services that drive health outcomes. Co-production involves a reorientation of healthcare delivery toward personal goals, self-care, and respectful care, which drives the production and maintenance of trust between people and their healthcare providers. This co-production model is still in its infancy, and there is a pressing demand to pay more attention to the needs and preferences of patients and communities to enhance this collaborative process.Specific Challenges and Opportunities in Asia: Tremendous efforts have been made to develop PCIPHC in many Asian countries, providing a unique opportunity for cross-country learning. However, many of these efforts are fragmented and their development is idiosyncratic to the local context, highlighting the significant need and opportunity for continuous improvement and shared learning across the PCIPHC system performance.