An important component of primary care is that it is continuous,
allowing the physician and the patient to develop a relationship
over time. This makes it possible for primary-care physicians to
accumulate information about personal family history that would
not be available to other specialists.  Primary-care physicians
try to be community- and population-focused. A doctor can
practice high-quality primary care only if he or she knows the
community, knows what is prevalent in the community, knows the
risks in the community, and knows what the community’s health
concerns are.  An important characteristic of primary-care
practice is that the physicians see common problems. They
specialize in breadth of knowledge and expertise. At the same
time, they need to recognize patterns that suggest the unusual.
In order to practice in this way, primary-care physicians need
information systems and decision support. Because they have a
very high volume of practice, their support systems must work on
time and all the time.