Medical Title Misappropriation

What is Medical Title Misappropriation and how does it affect us?

Medical Title Misappropriation is a vital patient safety bill that prevents the misuse of medical and medical specialty titles by demanding transparency, accuracy, and accountability in healthcare titles.

This bill also promotes “Truth in Advertising” among health care professionals by ensuring that any advertisements or professional websites they have do not promote services beyond what they are legally permitted to provide. These advertisements or websites must be free of deceptive or misleading information, and must identify the professional license.

Unfortunately, confusing and misleading ads undermine the reliability of our health care system.

But by simply requiring medical professionals to display their credentials and capabilities allows patients to make informed choices about their health care.

This legislation prohibits the use of the term doctor, MD/DO, and physician by non-physicians in clinical settings.

Other Facts:

What Patients Think:

  • 88% of patients believe that health care providers should be required to display their level of training and legal licensure. This includes full disclosure in all advertising and marketing materials.

 

  • While some non-physicians call themselves “doctor” by virtue of a doctoral degree, nearly nine out of 10 patients believe only a medical doctor or doctor of osteopathic medicine should be able to use the title “physician.”

Title Protections:

  • Arizona statute includes protections of the titles used by many professions and occupations both inside and outside of healthcare.

 

  • There are at least 18 professions that have some form of title protection by statute. These include: podiatry, chiropractic, funeral directors, osteopathy, naturopathic medicine, nursing (8 specific titles protected), physical therapy, radiologic technologist, homeopathic physicians, behavioral health (10 different titles, protected), occupational health (six different titles protected), respiratory therapist, acupuncturist, cosmetology, certified public accountants, athletic trainers, massage therapy, and art therapists.

Patients Above Politics is here to fight for you.

Paid for by the Arizona Medical Association and the American Medical Association’s Scope of Practice Partnership.