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

Etymology

Origin of primary care

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

The research team analyzed data from primary care records in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum, which were linked to hospital and mortality data between January 2007 and March 2021.

From Science Daily • Apr. 14, 2026

The law also enables people to spend HSA dollars on monthly or annual fees for direct primary care.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026

When it comes to peptide injections generally, “the gap between the hype and the evidence is staggering,” Lucy McBride, a primary care doctor, recently wrote in her newsletter Are You Okay?

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

He said that as more residents gained access to primary care, utilization at some county-run clinics declined.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 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