Care associate vs care provider

The differences between care associates and care providers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a care associate has an average salary of $32,558, which is higher than the $29,652 average annual salary of a care provider.

The top three skills for a care associate include patients, vital signs and PCA. The most important skills for a care provider are senior care, patients, and administer medications.

Care associate vs care provider overview

	Care Associate	Care Provider
Yearly salary	$32,558	$29,652
Hourly rate	$15.65	$14.26
Growth rate	9%	36%
Number of jobs	192,391	169,562
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	High School Diploma, 30%
Average age	42	48
Years of experience	3	-

What does a care associate do?

Patient care associates typically work at different healthcare settings where their primary job is to provide basic patient needs and comfort. They are also responsible for several patient care tasks, including bathing patients, changing the pillows and bedsheets of patients, and serving patients' meals. They should comply with safety protocols when performing these tasks. Some of them can give patients medication depending on the level of their training. To become a patient care specialist, one should possess several skills, such as good communication.

What does a care provider do?

A care provider is responsible for assisting patients with their healthcare needs at the highest quality service. Care providers work in various medical organizations or are privately employed by a household. They perform medical procedures such as taking the patient's temperature and vital signs, monitoring their food intake, administering medications, collecting specimens for laboratory tests, and reporting the patient's condition to the attending physician or other health care professionals. A care provider must have excellent communication and organization skills, especially when consulting with patients for their needs and developing healthcare plans.

Care associate vs care provider salary

Care associates and care providers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Care Associate	Care Provider
Average salary	$32,558	$29,652
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $48,000	Between $17,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	Hollister, CA	Attleboro, MA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Analysis Group	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Best paying industry	Health Care	Government

Differences between care associate and care provider education

There are a few differences between a care associate and a care provider in terms of educational background:

	Care Associate	Care Provider
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	High School Diploma, 30%
Most common major	Nursing	Business
Most common college	-	-

Care associate vs care provider demographics

Here are the differences between care associates' and care providers' demographics:

	Care Associate	Care Provider
Average age	42	48
Gender ratio	Male, 22.3% Female, 77.7%	Male, 22.1% Female, 77.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 7.8% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 22.3% Asian, 8.3% White, 54.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between care associate and care provider duties and responsibilities

Care associate example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
Provide direct care to patients in intensive care unit with empathy, compassion and enthusiasm.
Utilize strong interpersonal skills to educate patients on procedures, rehabilitation and contraception methods.
Care for patients requiring telemetry monitoring and work collaboratively with telemetry technician/nurses to detect and report abnormalities to physicians.
Coordinate with clinicians to meet the specific needs of patients and perform clinical care in an ICU.
Assign to new ER and ICU departments by leadership to maintain quality of patient care and increase patient satisfaction.

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Care provider example responsibilities.

Manage provider network to include verifying claims and benefits for healthcare providers/members and insurance companies.
Aid and facilitate higher functioning patients reach their fullest potential while managing behavioral episodes as needed.
Accompany to medical appointments, administer medications, assist with ADL's, community integration, personal care, and therapeutic activities
Review appeals for Medicare non-participating providers following CMS specific guidelines for these providers.
Provide direct patient care to critical and non-critical emergency department patients as an experience EMT-Paramedic.
Change tracheal tube and catheter.

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Care associate vs care provider skills

Common care associate skills

Patients, 24%
Vital Signs, 11%
PCA, 7%
Phlebotomy, 7%
CPR, 7%
Customer Service, 5%

Common care provider skills

Senior Care, 23%
Patients, 13%
Administer Medications, 6%
Direct Care, 6%
Meal Prep, 6%
Patient Care, 6%

Care Associate vs. similar jobs

Care Associate related careers

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Updated January 8, 2025

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