Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:The Culture of Health Care
Unit:Health Professionals The People in Health Care
Lecture:Introduction and Physicians
Non-clinical IT/Informatics Roles for Clinicians
Effects of Changing Care Models on Clinicians
Slide content:Primary Care Roles Travis Nimmo CC-BY 12
Slide notes:Primary care includes specialties that provide routine care to a patient on a continuous basis; it includes acute care, health maintenance, wellness, preventative care, and management of chronic disease not requiring a specialist. The primary care physician also serves as the gatekeeper and coordinator of additional care when needed by a subspecialist. Primary care specialties are Family medicine, which provides care for the entire family, including infants, children, and adults. Some family medicine physicians also provide obstetrical care. Internal medicine, which provides care to adolescents and adults. Pediatrics, which provides care to infants, children and adolescents. Obstetrics [uhb- stet -triks] and gynecology [gahy-ni- kol -uh-jee], or OB/GYN [O-B-G-Y-N], which provides services to women, including during pregnancy and childbirth. OB/GYN specializes in the female reproductive system, but because many women obtain primary care services from their obstetrician [ob-sti- trish -uhn] or gynecologist [gahy-ni- kol -uh-jist], its often considered a primary care specialty. If a patient does not have a primary care physician, he or she may seek primary care in a hospitals emergency facility, in a free-standing urgent care center, or from a specialist that the patient sees on a frequent basis. The decreasing number of primary care physicians in the workforce has exacerbated this practice. 12