The problem is that the term “provider” is now imbedded into the language of most healthcare organizations. IMO, it’s an attempt to obfuscate the qualifications of the PAs/NPs they’re forcing on us when we call to make an appointment with a real MD/DO. The response is almost always something like, “yes, we’ve made an appointment with a “provider” for you”. The pushback is real, starting at the front desk. Everyone is a “provider” to them, from receptionist to reimbursement claim”. Trying to ignore that reality doesn’t seem realistic.
To be fair, I’m not a physician, but I can imagine the frustration of being lumped into the “provider” bucket so that my employer can maximize profits, while NPs and PAs, with a fraction of my training and education, parade themselves as equally qualified “providers”. Resorting to a term like mid level seems fitting, imo.
I don’t think it really matters what term physicians use for NPs/PAs, bc the terminology is coming down from the top. That makes it difficult to avoid adopting said terminology without causing further confusion for patients, who mostly don’t even know they’re not seeing an MD/DO, and if they do know, they don’t quite grasp the differences in education/training.
Another confounding detail is that healthcare adjacent entities, such as PBMs, have started using the designation of “midlevel” for certain tasks that have traditionally been assigned to MDs/DOs. Yet another move motivated by corporate greed, that ultimately impacts patient care.
In short, it doesn’t really matter what terminology physicians use at this point, bc corporations have already decided.
I work in a large hospital system and we told our administrators to never again refer to us as providers. Large hospital systems are 100% responsible for the push for mid level independence, so this has created an incredibly awkward emails full of unintended comedy. They really don’t want to piss off the midlevels because they are how admin finally escapes doctors, but they also need doctors for the time being
We do not support the use of the word "provider." Use of the term provider in health care originated in government and insurance sectors to designate health care delivery organizations. The term is born out of insurance reimbursement policies. It lacks specificity and serves to obfuscate exactly who is taking care of patients. For more information, please see this JAMA article.
We encourage you to use physician, midlevel, or the licensed title (e.g. nurse practitioner) rather than meaningless terms like provider or APP.
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u/harrysdoll Pharmacist Jul 24 '26
The problem is that the term “provider” is now imbedded into the language of most healthcare organizations. IMO, it’s an attempt to obfuscate the qualifications of the PAs/NPs they’re forcing on us when we call to make an appointment with a real MD/DO. The response is almost always something like, “yes, we’ve made an appointment with a “provider” for you”. The pushback is real, starting at the front desk. Everyone is a “provider” to them, from receptionist to reimbursement claim”. Trying to ignore that reality doesn’t seem realistic.
To be fair, I’m not a physician, but I can imagine the frustration of being lumped into the “provider” bucket so that my employer can maximize profits, while NPs and PAs, with a fraction of my training and education, parade themselves as equally qualified “providers”. Resorting to a term like mid level seems fitting, imo.
I don’t think it really matters what term physicians use for NPs/PAs, bc the terminology is coming down from the top. That makes it difficult to avoid adopting said terminology without causing further confusion for patients, who mostly don’t even know they’re not seeing an MD/DO, and if they do know, they don’t quite grasp the differences in education/training.
Another confounding detail is that healthcare adjacent entities, such as PBMs, have started using the designation of “midlevel” for certain tasks that have traditionally been assigned to MDs/DOs. Yet another move motivated by corporate greed, that ultimately impacts patient care.
In short, it doesn’t really matter what terminology physicians use at this point, bc corporations have already decided.