Medical Economics January 7, 2026
Some physicians are pushing back on the catch-all label “provider,” saying it confuses patients, blurs credentials and chips away at professional identity.
“Please stand, raise your right hand and repeat after me: I pledge not to use the word provider when referring to physicians and further, to encourage my colleagues to do so. You may be seated.”
So began rheumatologist Dr. Robert McLean’s inaugural address as 2019 President of the American College of Physicians — and with it, his mission to eliminate the “P-word,” provider, as a term for physicians.
“People stood, smiled, I got some claps, and several came up afterward to thank me,” McLean recalls. “It kind of became my moniker. For the rest of the year, at...
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