primary care

noun

: 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

Instead of typing on her computer keyboard during the exam, Urban's primary care physician at the Penn Internal Medicine practice in Media, Pennsylvania, had an ambient artificial intelligence scribe take notes. —Michelle Andrews, ABC News, 26 Jan. 2026

When to seek medical attention Anyone who has consumed this type of mushroom should follow up with their primary care physician or a liver specialist to monitor for liver failure, doctors recommend. —Amy McGorry, FOXNews.com, 26 Jan. 2026

The 42,000-square-foot facility offers primary care (family and internal medicine), pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, dermatology, lab, pharmacy, physical therapy, radiology and mammography. —Samantha Gowen, Oc Register, 26 Jan. 2026

But Mass General Brigham has faced a number of challenges in recent years, from losing its relationship with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to a unionization campaign by its primary care physicians amid discontent among wide swaths of its doctors. —Jessica Bartlett — Boston Globe, STAT, 25 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1967, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for primary care

• concessionaire
• abwehr
• affair
• affaire
• airfare
• altair
• armchair
• aware
• beware
• bugbear
• carfare
• childcare

Medical Definition

primary care

noun

: 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 physicians

primary care practice

primary care medicine

called also primary health care

compare secondary care, tertiary care