Sara Pastoor, MD

Sara Pastoor is a family physician.

Agentic AI: the key to saving annual preventive exams

Physician

February 21, 2026

Annual preventive exams have been a staple of American medicine for decades. Yet despite their importance, preventive visits remain underutilized in American health care, which is no surprise in a system that centers sick care and incentivizes churning out services instead of improving outcomes.

In fact, only 60% of Medicare beneficiaries complete their annual well visits, and less than 65% of children under 19 complete their well-child check-ups. When …

Why your EHR’s certification matters more than you think

Sara Pastoor, MD

Health Technology

March 4, 2025

Modern EHRs and “CEHRT”

Electronic health records (EHRs) and their role in modern health care are inescapable today. But have you ever stopped to ask: Is my EHR certified? And more importantly, why does that matter?

As any EHR user knows, not all EHRs are created equal. A little-known differentiator is that some systems are Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT), while a growing number of newer systems are not. If you’ve …

It’s time to evolve how we measure the success of EHRs to make us healthier

Sara Pastoor, MD

Health Technology

January 6, 2024

We’ve known for the last decade that electronic health records (EHRs) have a significant impact on physicians’ ability to deliver high-value care. It not only has a largely negative influence on their quality of life, which bleeds over into the entire health care landscape, but also impacts their ability to successfully adapt practices to evolving payment models intended to improve patient health outcomes — especially important for primary care.

Yet despite …

The solution to America’s primary care shortage is direct primary care

Sara Pastoor, MD

Physician

December 24, 2022

Primary care in the United States is on the brink of collapse. Primary care providers suffer existential burnout, are the lowest compensated among all medical specialties, and there is a crisis-level shortage of primary care physicians, especially in health professional shortage areas. Despite strong evidence linking primary care (unlike any other medical specialty) to a better quality of life, longer life expectancy, better patient experience, and lower total …

The solution to a crumbling primary care foundation is direct primary care

Sara Pastoor, MD

Health Policy

December 14, 2022

In a report published by the Commonwealth Fund and released in August 2021, the performance of the U.S. health care system was compared to that of other high-income countries. The results were stunning: despite investing far more of its gross domestic product in health care, the U.S. ranks dead last overall and last on access to care, administrative efficiency, health equity, and health …

The powerful role of administrative leaders in high-value primary care

Sara Pastoor, MD

Physician

November 13, 2022

The market for health administrators in the U.S. is projected to grow 28 percent from 2021 to 2031, growing more rapidly than the average for all other occupations.

Traditionally, those in health administration work in hospitals, large health systems, health plan organizations, and consulting firms. However, health administration has the potential to contribute value to every component of the U.S. health care …

The center of gravity in health care and the role of primary care

Sara Pastoor, MD

Physician

March 28, 2022

I’ve been as guilty as anyone of leaving my patient out on a limb. As a practicing primary care physician, I’ve had patients with diabetes who observe Ramadan, but I had no idea how to support them during their fast. I’ve had transgender patients yet didn’t have the right language to talk about their health, and nothing in the electronic health record (EHR) seemed designed to support them. I’ve sent …

Sara Pastoor, MD

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