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

See Examples For:

primary care

Since this model was adopted 20 years ago, Lyon says the Dutch have seen a "massive expansion of primary care, early diagnosis and treatment" while still offering universal healthcare.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

For example, a study published in 2004 calculated that doctors trained in epidemiology would need an impossible 29 hours per weekday to be fully up on all the latest research in primary care.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 2026

If the department doesn’t reverse course, it will undoubtedly squeeze the pipeline of nurse practitioners and other advanced-degree nurses critical to filling gaps in primary care and rural areas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

The work was carried out in more than 100 primary care centers within Spain's National Health System.

From Science Daily ● May 19, 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