Definition
Clinical settings include primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary care settings. Primary care clinical settings are typically the first point of contact individuals have with the medical system. The majority of health care, including mental health care, is provided in the primary care setting. Family medicine (family practice), internal medicine, pediatric, and sometimes obstetrics and gynecological clinics are classified as primary care clinical settings. Primary care clinical settings are distinguished from other speciality care settings because no referral is needed for care and it is the source of care continuity and advocacy for the patient. The full spectrum of health care from health promotion, disease prevention, and assessment and treatment of acute and chronic medical conditions occurs in primary care (American Academy of Family Physicians, 2011; Shi & Singh, 2010).
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References and Readings
American Academy of Family Physicians. (2011). Primary care. Retrieved from http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/policy/policies/p/primarycare.html#Parsys0002
American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American College of Physicians (ACP), & American Osteopathic Association (AOA). (2007). Joint principles of the patient centered medical home. Retrieved from http://www.pcpcc.net/joint-principles
Hunter, C. L., & Goodie, J. L. (2010). Operational and clinical components for integrated-collaborative behavioral healthcare in the patient-centered medical home. Family, Systems, and Health, 28, 308–321.
Robinson, P., & Reiter, J. (2007). Behavioral consultation and primary care: A guide to integrating services. New York: Springer.
Shi, L., & Singh, D. A. (2010). Essentials of the U.S. health care system. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
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© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media, New York
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Goodie, J. (2013). Clinical Settings. In: Gellman, M.D., Turner, J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_94
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_94
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
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