Blogfinger recently posted an editorial about physician assistants and nurse practitioners who engage in deception when acting like doctors under a variety of circumstances as in hospitals, doctors offices, and urgi-care centers. Here is a link:
Now we see that Indiana has passed a law to require accurate identification so that patients are not fooled by make-believe physicians.
Here is a summary of the situation as reported by Medscape, a news service for physicians.
“While several healthcare professionals can perform some of the same functions as physicians, at the end of the day, they are not MDs or DOs nor do they have the education and training to earn the right to present themselves to patients as such. That’s the reasoning behind Senate Bill 239, recently signed into law by Indiana Gov. Eric J. Holcomb.
“The patient safety measure, which will take effect on July 1, specifically prohibits the misappropriation of medical specialty titles such as anesthesiologist, cardiologist, dermatologist, and others by professionals who have not graduated from medical school and completed the necessary training to adopt the physician title. It also prohibits healthcare professionals from using deceptive or misleading advertising that misrepresents or falsely describes their profession, education, or skills.
“Using the medical term ‘anesthesiologist’ for nurse anesthetists, confuses patients who deserve to be fully informed of their healthcare provider’s qualifications,” said Randall M. Clark, MD, president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) in a statement. “This new law affirms the most fundamental right of patients to know the qualifications of their healthcare professional.”
“The problem stretches far beyond professional turf battles, as patients are often confused about the differences between various types of healthcare providers, according to the American Medical Association’s Truth in Advertising Campaign. Often, patients mistakenly believe they are meeting with medical doctors or doctors of osteopathic medicine when they are not.”
I plan to provide examples which I have personally witnessed in a subsequent post Meanwhile, if any of you want to cite examples or opinions on this, please use the comment button below or send an email to Blogfinger@verizon.net. But you must keep it brief or it will be edited.
Paul Goldfinger, MD, FACC. In my work life I always wore a name-tag that had my key credentials.
The public should know about these issues and should always ask about credentials.
Chiropracters, dentists, psychologists (PhD) call themselves “doctor” but they shouldn’t call themselves “physicians.”
I wore a white coat for most of my working life as I worked in a medical lab. That changed when the institution decreed that persons with exposure to blood, etc., would wear a colored coat that was not to be worn outside the lab, etc. Still, the clerks and secretaries were required to wear scrubs as though they were on call to do surgery. Indeed, the staff in my ophthalmologist’s office not only wear scrubs but caps as well.
I was hospitalized twice in recent years. On the second stay, I noticed that the nametags had been changed with “physician,” “nurse,” etc. in large bold letters at the bottom of the ID. The background was even color-coded by title.
One of our readers has informed us of a “physician assistant” who runs a business as a “Dermatology Physician.” His business card says “Dermatology Physician” and has “PA-C” after his name. (We have a copy.)
Our reader says, “He and his wife told me he was a “Dermatologist”.
“His business card says “Dermatology Physician”, so to me, Physician” means a doctor.”
And “he goes by Dr. embroidered in navy on his white coat. He told me he has multiple centers listed on webmd.com from Rockaway to Toms River.”
Editor: So, words have meaning, and “physician” does mean someone who has graduated medical school and is licensed to practice which includes diagnosis, treatment, prescription drugs, and surgery.
This “dermatologist” is misrepresenting who he is. If he tells his clients that he is a dermatologist, then that means he is a licensed physician with formal advanced specialty training.
We don’t know what he actually does, but patients must pay attention to the qualifications of those who say that they are physicians or act as if they are.
In some states, nurse practitioners and physician assistants can open offices without supervision and they can actually prescribe medications. But they cannot claim to be physicians. I don’t know if they can do surgery in certain states, but would you let a non-physician do surgery on you?
Here is an amusing anecdote: My Mom was hospitalized. I told her I was sending a very good young cardiologist to admit her. He wore a white coat and a name tag that said Doctor..MD
He walked into her room and introduced himself. She looked him over and asked, “Do you have your FACC?”
Well, he was new in practice and hadn’t received that credential yet. But he loved the incident and explained his qualifications to her including his medical school, residency and double board certification.
But not everyone can have a son–the doctor.
You all need to make sure that you get what you want when it comes to someone who will be providing your medical care.