A gatekeeper is a health care professional, usually a primary care physician or a physician extender, who is the patient's first contact with the health care system and triages the patient's further access to the system.
When used in relation to health insurance, a gatekeeper describes the person in charge of a patient's treatment. Anyone who receives health insurance coverage in the form of a managed care plan, specifically a health maintenance organization (HMO) plan, is assigned a gatekeeper or allowed to choose one.
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