Primary Care: Contradictions and Questions

The current buzz-word is “primary care.” A shortage of this commodity has been diagnosed, and a number of prescriptions written to remedy the deficiency. However, although we talk about the manifestations of the syndrome a good deal of ambiguity about the criteria for diagnosis remains. Precisely what is this thing called “primary care, “ and how will the steps proposed to increase its availability affect the total health-care system? Definitions of primary care are numerous and not always consistent. One hears such phrases as “first contact,” “continuing responsibility” and “whole patient.”¹ The themes usually revolve around some combination of comprehensive.