Referring to physicians as “providers” undermines their ethical obligations, clinical integrity, accountability and trust with patients, according to a February policy paper from the American Colleges of Physicians.
Medical journal articles have previously critiqued the term “provider,” but the industry’s debate about the word’s usage has not adequately addressed ethical significance, the policy paper said.
The American Colleges of Physicians’ paper underlined four ethical implications of the word “provider.”
1. The use of “provider” to refer to institutions, payers, physicians, nurses, physician assistants and other clinicians “lumps impersonal entities in with humans.” It also blurs differences in clinical training and expertise among clinicians.
2. Physicians are distinctly different from individuals and entities that provide commercial services, as “patients are not mere consumers.” Physicians pledge to do no harm, which includes avoiding unnecessary, costly tests and procedures even if they are in the physician’s interests or conflicts.
3. The term “provider” undermines ethics and professionalism. The physician-patient relationship is hindered if it becomes transactional.
4. Language can affect someone’s professional sense of self and behavior. A physician is a physician; and professionals with other credentials should be called “clinicians” or “health care professionals,” the paper said.
“The words physician and provider are not interchangeable,” the conclusion said. “The term [provider] should not be used to describe physicians, nor should physicians use it to describe themselves, their team members or their trainees.”
The ACP Ethics, Professionalism and Human Rights Committee developed the policy paper, which was published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
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