primary care

American  

noun

1. medical care by a physician, or other healthcare professional, who is the patient's first contact with the healthcare system and who may recommend a specialist if necessary.

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Other Word Forms

• primary-care
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of primary care

First recorded in 1970–75

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

primary care

Wait times were often long and tempers short, he said, as patients without primary care showed up seeking help for minor ailments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026

The transition from pregnancy care to primary care can have important long-term consequences.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

“Even in primary care, even though we’re supposed to be preventive-focused, it ends up being very disease-focused,” she told me.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

In many rural areas, health centers are sometimes the only source of primary care.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

We’ve had people come in saying they want to sue some specialist, and we’ll say, ‘We don’t think that doctor was negligent. We think it’s your primary care doctor who was at fault.’

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

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