Letters to the Editor

Physicians Should Not Be Referred to as 'Providers'

TO THE EDITOR: I could not agree more with Dr. Taylor's editorial¹ on the use of the term "primary care provider," or PCP. I am not quite sure what a PCP is, but it sounds like some sort of toxic substance.

As a residency program director in New Jersey for the past 15 years, I have been teaching residents, medical students, attending physicians, and, sadly, an occasional faculty member, that we are not providers or PCPs. I am currently semi-retired and teaching as a consultant in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School. In that role, I try to impress on the medical students and residents that the terms "provider" and "PCP" are artificial and somewhat pejorative labels invented by insurance companies and health maintenance organizations.

In addition, I am uncertain who the term "consumer" refers to with respect to the health care field. That person, or persons, is not the same as a patient and is certainly not the same as patients for whom we, as family physicians, act as not only physicians, but also advocates, interpreters, investigators, and, frequently, arbitrators and advisors in situations of conflicting opinions by various subspecialists.

I would hope that every program director in family medicine might take it on themselves to refuse to answer, or answer in the negative, any correspondence addressed to him or her as a "provider" or "PCP."

JOHN C. BROGAN, M.D.
3196 Silver Sands Circle #300
Virginia Beach, VA 23451

REFERENCES

1. Taylor RB. Please don't call me 'provider' [Editorial]. Am Fam Physician 2001;63:2340-2.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Since the time that Dr. Taylor's commentary was written, the 2001 American Academy of Family Physicians' Congress of Delegates approved the following resolution, subject to approval by the Board of Directors: "That the American Academy of Family Physicians adopt as policy the principle that the term 'provider' is not to be used to refer to physicians, and be it further resolved that the AAFP develop a position paper that describes the Academy's policy opposing use of the term "provider" and make it available to the membership for their use in resolving the issue locally, and be it further resolved that all groups will be encouraged to use the term 'doctor' or 'physician' when referring to physicians."

Correction

The article "Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine for Young Children" (May 15, 2001, page 1991) contained two errors. On page 1992, the last two sentences of the left-hand column should read as follows: "Rates of invasive pneumococcal disease among blacks are about twofold to threefold higher than rates in whites. Rates among Alaskan natives and Native Americans are about threefold to sevenfold higher than rates in whites."

In addition, in the second sentence of the first whole paragraph in the right column on page 1994, the wrong formulation was used for pertussis vaccine administered at the same time as diphtheria and tetanus toxoids. The correct abbreviation is DTaP. The text should read as follows: "When administered at the same time as diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP) at a separate site, a fever of 38°C (100°F) or higher occurred in 15 to 24 percent of children vaccinated with PCV compared with 9 to 17 percent of those receiving the control vaccine (experimental meningococcal conjugate vaccine).¹⁴"

Send letters to Jay Siwek, M.D., Editor, American Family Physician, 11400 Tomahawk Creek Pkwy., Leawood, KS 66211-2672; fax: 913-906-6080; e-mail: afplet@aafp.org. Please include your complete address, telephone number, and fax number. Letters should be submitted on disk, double-spaced, fewer than 500 words, and limited to one table or figure and six references. Please submit a word count. Letters submitted for publication in AFP must not be submitted to any other publication. Possible conflicts of interest must be disclosed at time of submission. Submission of a letter will be construed as granting the AAFP permission to publish the letter in any of its publications in any form. The editors may edit letters to meet style and space requirements.