Why some physicians don't want to be called a 'provider'

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed legislation to establish Medicare and Medicaid. In the legislation, one clause referred to "any provider of services" to mean a contractor who receives payment for the delivery of health-related services or products.

In the 1970s, the term "provider" became a common way to refer to hospitals, nursing homes, and other organizations that contracted with either Medicare or Medicaid. From there, the term "Medicare providers" became a common way to describe physicians, dentists, and other healthcare professionals who contracted with federal insurance programs.

However, over the last few years, some physicians have pushed back against the term, saying it devalues the work doctors do and demoralizes them.

Jeffrey Linder, chief of general internal medicine and geriatrics at Northwestern University, has said "the term 'provider' grates" and that "being called a provider makes it [seem] like I am shoveling something."

Separately, Allan Goroll, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said that "[a]ssigning the 'provider' designation to primary care health professionals […] risks deprofessionalizing them."

"The term 'provider' makes no reference to professional values or professionalism; its use can lead to the inference that such values do not matter, potentially fostering an unprofessional work environment," Goroll added.

Some health systems have made a concerted effort to stop using the term provider when referring to physicians. For example, Bayhealth has removed the term provider from its medical staff bylaws and will correct it if it is used to refer to providers in any of the health system's publications or other materials.

"Some are unaware of it, but some physicians find it a very negative and derogatory term to address them," said Thomas Vaughan, Bayhealth's chief wellness officer and founding chair of its physician wellness committee. "… We discussed this in a couple of committee meetings and decided that it was an area that we could have an impact and maybe help decrease some burnout among physicians."

"Respect is a cornerstone of professionalism in medicine," Vaughan wrote in an editorial published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. "The language we use is a critical medium through which respect is conveyed to colleagues and patients."

In 2023, the AMA House of Delegates adopted a policy saying that it considers the term provider to be "inadequate to describe the extensive education and qualifications of physicians licensed to practice medicine in all its branches." 

Another similar AMA policy urges "all physicians to insist on being identified as a physician, to sign only those professional or medical documents identifying them as physicians, and to not let the term physician be used by any other organization or person involved in health care."

ACP also recently published a position paper arguing that physicians should not be referred to as providers. The paper was developed by the ACP Ethics, Professionalism, and Human Rights Committee and authored by Lois Snyder Sulmasy, director for ACP's Center for Ethics and Professionalism, and Jan Carney, ACP's president-elect.

In some instances, it may be best to refer to physicians by their specialties. For example, Denise Henry, a director at Optum Advisory,* said, "when engaging in conversations with physicians, I believe it's essential to show respect for their extensive training, including medical school, residency, and fellowship. Therefore, using titles like neurosurgeon or electrophysiologist is appropriate and well-received."

The patient-physician relationship "is not transactional but rather relational, with the patient seeking care from a physician who is trained to help and bound by ethical duties to do so," Sulmasy and Carney added. They also recommended that professionals who care for patients should be referred to as "clinicians or healthcare professionals, not providers."

However, Advisory Board's Daniel Kuzmanovich noted that, " before focusing solely on the ethics of calling physicians 'providers,' we should grapple with a broader ethical issue: whether we truly view medicine as a team sport. Too often, our language undermines that ideal."

"A clear example is the routine labeling of advanced practice providers as 'mid‑levels,' a term that diminishes the complexity and value of their roles. While I commend this article for avoiding that language, the suggestion to refer to others simply as 'clinicians or healthcare professionals' risks flattening the diverse, nuanced contributions of the care team — and implicitly separating physicians from the team itself. Ethical, team‑based care requires language that reflects mutual respect and shared accountability, not hierarchy," Kuzmanovich said.

*Advisory Board is a subsidiary of Optum. All Advisory Board research, expert perspectives, and recommendations remain independent.