Orphan patient

In health care, an orphan patient is a patient who has been "lost" within the system or has no primary provider overseeing their care. Usually, the primary provider is a general practitioner who takes care of some of the basic health needs and then refers to a specialist for complicated medical problems. Thus, orphan patients are sometimes referred to as "no family doctor" patients. The view from insiders and health care providers is that orphan patients tend to receive inferior care compared to those who have a "gatekeeper" coordinating the medicine. The Wordspy entry for this phrase is as follows :

Solutions to the orphan patient problem are complex, as expected due to its multifactorial origins. It is not possible to decrease the population. It is not easy to increase the number of physicians and other health care providers available, as the time to train them tends to be long. Some of the temporary solutions have involved changing the way that health care is provided by:

making greater use of alternative health care providers such as nurse practitioners, hospitalists and Telehealth style public information services. using technological assists such as electronic medical records and telemedicine to make the existing health care providers more efficient. implementing wider and more effective public health initiatives such as smoking cessation and fitness programs in order to decrease the burden of illness on a community. Community smoking bans and seatbelt regulations are political interventions that are sometimes spearheaded by medical professionals but can be implemented without their involvement.