HCP
Meaning of HCP: HCP most often abbreviates healthcare provider or healthcare professional, though the same letters also denote a health care proxy, an unrelated advance directive role.
Definition of HCP
HCP most commonly abbreviates healthcare provider or healthcare professional, a broad term covering physicians, nurses, therapists, and other licensed individuals or organizations that deliver medical care. In this sense, HCP appears throughout patient education materials, insurance documents, and clinical communication.
The same abbreviation is also used with an unrelated meaning in the context of advance directives, where HCP stands for health care proxy, a document or designated person given authority to make healthcare decisions for someone who has lost the ability to decide for themselves. This sense is distinct from the healthcare provider meaning and arises in a different context, planning for future medical decision making.
Because HCP can refer to either meaning, the surrounding context, such as a discussion of who is delivering care versus who is authorized to make decisions on a person's behalf, generally clarifies which sense is intended.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The patient was advised to discuss the new symptom with their HCP at the next visit.
Good to know
HCP most often means healthcare provider in everyday clinical and patient facing use, though the same abbreviation separately denotes health care proxy in the specific context of advance directives, so context determines the intended meaning.