In health care, an<unk>  is a<unk>  who has been "lost" within the system or has no primary provider overseeing their care. Usually, the primary provider is a general practitioner or family doctor who takes care of some of the basic health needs and then refers to a specialist for complicated medical problems. Thus,<unk> s are sometimes referred to as "no-family-doctor"<unk> s. The view from insiders and health care providers is that<unk> s tend to receive inferior care compared to those who have a "gatekeeper" coordinating the medicine.
The Wordspy entry for this phrase is as follows :
Example Citation:
Dr. Tom Dickson, chief of staff at the William Osler Health Centre in Brampton, Ont., said the FP [family physician] shortage is so severe in the ring of suburbs surrounding Toronto — the '905 belt' — that dozens of<unk> s are arriving at local community hospitals every day.
—Patrick Sullivan, "Enter the hospitalist: new type of<unk>  creating a new type of specialist," Canadian Medical Association Journal, May 2, 2000
Earliest Citation:
Recent media reports have pointed to a growing problem in Ontario's health care system — the care of<unk> s." These are<unk> s who rely on walk-in clinics and emergency departments because they do not have their own family doctor.
—Jan Kasperski,<unk> s," The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo), October 13, 1999
Orphan patient
Cancer patient
Cancer previvor
Cancer survivors
United States Adopted Name
Bejel causes
Male
Permanent makeup