primary care

noun

Definition of primary care

: health care provided by a medical professional (such as a general practitioner, pediatrician, or nurse) with whom a patient has initial contact and by whom the patient may be referred to a specialist —often used before another noun a primary care physician

— called also primary health care

— compare secondary care, tertiary care

Examples of primary care in a Sentence

He provides primary care to inner-city patients.

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s a shortage of primary care doctors in all but a handful of Alabama counties and throughout rural parts of the state. — Mike Cason | Mcason@al.com, al, "Providers want to find and stamp out HIV in rural Alabama," 12 Aug. 2019 As such, children starting school should also receive routine hearing tests at the pediatrician’s office or the primary care physician’s office. — Emilia Benton, Houston Chronicle, "Hearing and vision check-ups are another key aspect of starting a new school year," 31 July 2019 That may take some coordinating between a primary care physician and insurance companies if medicines need to be resupplied on the road. — Talya Minsberg, New York Times, "How to Pack a First Aid Kit for Extended International Travel," 23 May 2019 But the real answer may lie in better integration of mental health services into primary care. — Suzanne F. Delbanco, Fortune, "Commentary: Why Employers Need to Take Employees’ Mental Health Seriously," 8 Apr. 2018 For the past quarter century, the following conviction's been a cornerstone of U.S. healthcare policy: America has too many heart surgeons, neurologists, psychiatrists and the like, and far too few primary care doctors. — Shawn Tully, Fortune, "Trouble Seeing a Specialist? Here’s What’s Driving the ‘Doctor Draught’," 15 July 2019 Kaiser members sought exemptions from Allen and Sutton, neither of whom work for the HMO, and then gave them to their primary care doctors. — Cat Ferguson, The Mercury News, "Five California doctors now under investigation over student vaccine exemptions," 3 July 2019 Absent reforms, the shortage will increase waiting times to see primary care doctors beyond today’s historically long spans. — Ron Hurtibise, sun-sentinel.com, "Is forced telemedicine the future of healthcare?," 28 June 2019 Once a homeless people is in the system, a case worker will get an alert whenever that person checks in at the city’s Neil Good Day Center for homeless people, another service provider, a primary care physician or if they are arrested. — Hayne Palmour Iv / San Diego Union-tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune, "City team recommends improvements to bridge shelter tents," 10 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'primary care.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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More Definitions for primary care

primary care

noun

English Language Learners Definition of primary care

: medical care from the doctor who sees a patient first and provides basic treatment or decides that the patient should see another doctor

See the full definition for primary care in the English Language Learners Dictionary

primary care

noun

Medical Definition of primary care

: health care provided by a medical professional (as a general practitioner or a pediatrician) with whom a patient has initial contact and by whom the patient may be referred to a specialist for further treatment —often used attributively primary care physiciansprimary care practiceprimary care medicine

— called also primary health care

— compare secondary care, tertiary care

primary care

Definition of primary care

Examples of primary care in a Sentence

First Known Use of primary care

English Language Learners Definition of primary care

Medical Definition of primary care

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