Facing a Growing Shortage
The U.S. primary care system is on the brink of a significant challenge. By 2037, the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis projects a shortfall of more than 87,000 full-time primary care physicians¹. Even if new providers were trained at scale, delivering comprehensive primary care to every patient would require hundreds of millions of additional care-delivery hours each year—a demand that could translate into trillions of dollars in workforce costs.
At the same time, physicians continue to face burnout and attrition², while an aging population further increases demand for care³. Traditional solutions alone can’t close this gap.
A Different Approach to Access and Capacity
This is where agentic AI offers a new path. At the STAT Breakthrough West Summit, Dr. David Carmouche, EVP and Chief Clinical Transformation Officer at Lumeris, shared how innovative virtual care agents are already transforming primary care delivery.
Tom™, Lumeris’ proprietary agentic AI solution, engages patients directly through text and voice, guiding them with evidence-based care plans and anticipating their needs throughout the care journey. By pulling together insights from electronic health records, claims, and consumer data, Tom creates a complete picture of each patient and translates that into personalized, proactive support.
The impact is twofold: patients receive timely, tailored outreach, and clinicians are freed from many routine interactions—allowing them to focus their time on the encounters that matter most.
Transforming the Future of Care
Agentic AI isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about rethinking the very model of care delivery. By embedding intelligent automation into clinical workflows, healthcare systems can expand capacity, improve access, and better align resources with the goals of value-based care.
In an environment where margins are tight, demand is rising, and clinician well-being is at risk², these capabilities represent not only operational relief but also strategic advantage.
Learn More
The STAT Brand Studio article dives deeper into how agentic AI like Tom™ is reshaping the future of primary care. Read the full article here to explore how these innovations are setting the stage for scalable, sustainable care delivery.
References
- AAMC. (n.d.). Aging population increasing demand for physicians. Retrieved from https://www.aamc.org
- Am J Med. (n.d.). Physician burnout leading to workforce attrition. Retrieved from https://www.amjmed.com
- ODPHP. (n.d.). Delayed care resulting in worse health outcomes. Retrieved from https://odphp.health.gov
- PMC. (n.d.). A shortage of doctors in rural America. Retrieved from https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1071163/
