General Medicine as the Clinical Bridge: A Systematic Literature Review of Whole-Person Care, Multimorbidity Management, and Health System Integration

Multimorbidity has become a major challenge for contemporary healthcare systems, as patients with multiple chronic conditions often require care that extends beyond disease-specific pathways. Fragmented services, polypharmacy, treatment burden, and poor continuity can limit the effectiveness of conventional clinical models. This review aimed to synthesize original evidence on whole-person care, multimorbidity management, and health system integration, with emphasis on the role of general medicine as a clinical bridge. A systematic search of electronic databases was conducted for original English-language studies published from 2016 onward. Study selection followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach, and 11 studies were included in the final qualitative synthesis. Data were extracted on study design, population, care model, outcomes, key findings, and relevance to integrated generalist care. No meta-analysis was performed because of heterogeneity in study designs, interventions, and outcome measures. The review found that general practice and primary care interventions commonly used extended consultations, relational continuity, individualized care plans, medication review, self-management support, interdisciplinary collaboration, and cross-sector coordination. Benefits were more consistent for patient-centered experience, emotional support, care coordination, medication-related processes, and health behaviors than for generic quality-of-life outcomes. General medicine appears central to translating fragmented multimorbidity care into coordinated, whole-person, and system-aware clinical practice.