Becker's Healthcare September 26, 2025
A lack of consensus on who counts as a primary care physician can affect reimbursement and workforce pipelines, and as demand for healthcare grows, the debate over what specialties fall under primary care is growing.
The traditional definition of primary care includes family medicine, general internal medicine and pediatrics — fields centered on prevention, continuity, coordination and treating common conditions. Primary care physicians are often the go-to trusted source for patients, as well.
In practice, however, patients and physicians often expand that definition to include OB-GYNs, oncologists and even subspecialists, especially in underserved areas.
“There’s a lot of gray,” Rob Fields, MD, executive vice president and chief clinical officer of Beth Israel Lahey Health in Cambridge, Mass., told...
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