Preferred Provider Organization (redirected from Participating provider option)

Preferred Provider Organization (PPO). A preferred provider organization (PPO) is a network of doctors and other healthcare providers that offers discounted care to members of a sponsoring organization, usually an employer or union.

You may also arrange private insurance coverage through a PPO.

If you're insured through a PPO, you make a copayment for each visit to a healthcare provider, though certain diagnostic tests may not require copayment.

You typically have the option to go to a doctor or other provider outside the network, but you pay a larger percentage of the cost, called coinsurance, than if you used a network doctor.