The ability of the health system to provide primary care services to patients when they need them, with acceptable and reasonable wait times and at days and times that are convenient to them.

The practice of following procedures and guidelines in the delivery of PHC services in order to avoid harm to the people for whom care is intended.

The ability of a health system to attain its desired objective(s) with the available resources, while minimizing waste and maximizing capacities to deliver care to those who need it.

Effectiveness measures whether health care and services are driven by evidence, adhere to established standards, and achieve their intended result.

People-centeredness means organizing the health system around the comprehensive needs of people rather than individual diseases. This involves engaging with people, families, and communities as equal partners in promoting and maintaining their health - including through communication, trust, and respect for preferences, as well as ongoing education and support so that they can participate in health care decisions.

The capacity of a primary care system to serve as the first point of contact, or a patient's entry point to the health system, for most of a person's health needs.

The system's ability to oversee and manage patient care throughout the course of treatment and across various sites of care to ensure appropriate follow-up, minimize the risk of error, and prevent complications. Coordination of care happens across levels of care and over time, and often requires proactive outreach on the part of health care teams and consistent tracking and communication of progress.

The degree to which a patient experiences a series of discrete healthcare events as coherent and consistent with their medical needs and personal context. This requires fostering trusted relationships between health care providers and patients over time (relational continuity), ensuring information is communicated from one event to the next (informational continuity), and ensuring the process is managed in a timely, complementary, and effective way across providers (management continuity).

The provision of holistic and appropriate care across a broad spectrum of health needs, ages, and solutions. Comprehensive primary health care is able to address a majority of promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative, chronic and palliative service needs.