U.S. primary care experiment aims to spur innovation. Its impact depends on the answers to these questions

The great hope of the primary care initiative unveiled by the Trump administration this week is that it will finally pay doctors to use technology to stay connected to their patients and intervene before — not after — health problems arise.

The concept is simple: Front primary care doctors money to provide high-touch care to keep their patients healthy, instead of paying them to jam their calendars with so many in-person office visits that they can’t respond to emergent problems.