gatekeeper

(gāt'kē'pər)
n.

1. One that is in charge of passage through a gate.
2. One who monitors or oversees the actions of others.
3. A primary-care provider, often in the setting of a managed-care organization, who coordinates patient care and provides referrals to specialists, hospitals, laboratories, and other medical services.

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In an H.323 IP telephony or video environment, a gatekeeper is a device that manages domains and provides call control. It is used to translate user names into IP addresses, to authenticate users and to manage network resources. Gatekeepers also provide call authorization and accounting information. See H.323 and MCU.

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Member of a decision-making unit or social group who acts to prevent or discourage a purchase by controlling the flow of information and/or access to people in the buying center. A mother who does not allow her child to choose a presweetened cereal at the supermarket is acting as a gatekeeper. A secretary who does not put calls through to the decision maker is a gatekeeper. Marketers must direct their advertisements not only to the end user, but also to any potential gatekeepers.

Primary care physician. This physician is normally associated with a health maintenance organization (hmo) whose job is preventive health care and making sure only needed medical procedures are provided.

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An individual—or possibly a group—who is able to control access to goods and/or services. For example, urban planning departments have tremendous power in deciding who has permission to develop land or property, and can be seen as gatekeepers who control the evolution of the city. Other gatekeepers include bank managers, building society officials and estate agents. See particularly Redlining.

Requirements that must be met before an individual can qualify for a long-term care plan. A person must qualify for the plan's benefits before he or she can be paid out.

Investopedia Says:
These standards are called gatekeepers because they are what stands between the individual and the policy payouts.

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The gatekeeper allows passage from one form or condition to another. If the dreamer is the gatekeeper, the dream may mean the dreamer should be careful about what he or she allows to pass through or hold on to in his or her life.

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For a list of words related to gatekeeper, see:

• Business and Practice of Medicine - gatekeeper: primary care physician who screens incoming patients at health facility to determine which need specialized or hospital care

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See words rhyming with "gatekeeper."

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - portvagt, kontrollør

Nederlands (Dutch)
portier

Français (French)
n. - portier, gardien

Deutsch (German)
n. - Pförtner, Torwächter

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - θυροφύλακας, πορτιέρης, θυρωρός

Italiano (Italian)
portinaio

Português (Portuguese)
n. - porteiro (m), guarda-cancela (m) (f)

Русский (Russian)
привратник

Español (Spanish)
n. - portero, guardabarrera

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - grindvakt

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
看门人

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 看門人

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 수위

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 門番, 門衛, 守衛, 踏切番, キイロウラジャノメ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الحارس,‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮שוער בית, שומר, פרפר בצבע חום המעופף בין שיחים וביערות‬

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