Primary care is the health care given by a health care provider. Typically this provider acts as the principal point of consultation for patients within a health care system and coordinates other specialists that the patient may need. Such a professional can be a primary care physician, such as a general practitioner or family physician, or depending on the locality, health system organization, and patient's discretion, they may see a pharmacist, a physician assistant, a nurse practitioner, a nurse (such as in the United Kingdom), a clinical officer (such as in parts of Africa), or an Ayurvedic or other traditional medicine professional (such as in parts of Asia). Depending on the nature of the health condition, patients may then be referred for secondary or tertiary care.
Read more about Primary Care: Background
Famous quotes containing the words primary and/or care:
“Anyone who has obeyed nature by transmitting a piece of gossip experiences the explosive relief that accompanies the satisfying of a primary need.”
—Primo Levi (1919–1987)
“God bless the physician who warms the speculum or holds your hand and looks into your eyes. Perhaps one subtext of the health care debate is a yen to be treated like a whole person, not just an eye, an ear, a nose or a throat. A yen to be human again, on the part of patient and doctor alike.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)