Care associate vs customer care associate

The differences between care associates and customer care associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-3 months to become a care associate, becoming a customer care associate takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a customer care associate has an average salary of $33,115, which is higher than the $32,558 average annual salary of a care associate.

The top three skills for a care associate include patients, vital signs and PCA. The most important skills for a customer care associate are customer care, patients, and customer service.

Care associate vs customer care associate overview

	Care Associate	Customer Care Associate
Yearly salary	$32,558	$33,115
Hourly rate	$15.65	$15.92
Growth rate	9%	-4%
Number of jobs	192,391	250,296
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age	42	40
Years of experience	3	12

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 customer care associate do?

A customer care associate's role focuses on providing customer support and service, ensuring optimal services and client satisfaction. Their responsibilities typically revolve around assisting walk-in customers by answering inquiries, offering recommendations or alternatives, and informing them of any promos or discounts. It is essential to devise strategies to identify customer needs, providing them as needed. Furthermore, a customer care associate may answer inquiries made through calls or correspondence, make reservations, handle complaints or concerns, and resolve them according to the company's policies and regulations.

Care associate vs customer care associate salary

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

	Care Associate	Customer Care Associate
Average salary	$32,558	$33,115
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $48,000	Between $24,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	Hollister, CA	San Diego, CA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	California
Best paying company	Analysis Group	Centennial Bank
Best paying industry	Health Care	Insurance

Differences between care associate and customer care associate education

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

	Care Associate	Customer Care Associate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Nursing	Business
Most common college	-	-

Care associate vs customer care associate demographics

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

	Care Associate	Customer Care Associate
Average age	42	40
Gender ratio	Male, 22.3% Female, 77.7%	Male, 30.1% Female, 69.9%
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, 12.4% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% Asian, 6.7% White, 56.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between care associate and customer care associate 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.

Customer care associate example responsibilities.

Continue to manage a high volume of customer calls relate to HMO, PPO and POS concerns.
Verify HIPAA member information, update members account, expedite payments, explain health and dental plan benefits options.
Answer inbound calls assisting customers with billing questions, troubleshoot for customers, and assist customers with service plans and upgrading packages
Receive inbound provider calls at a call center regarding patients medical insurance benefits and eligibility, edit and process Medicare claims.
Provide superior customer service to inbound calls from DirecTV customers regarding their schedule service/install appointment.

Care associate vs customer care associate skills

Common care associate skills

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

Common customer care associate skills

Customer Care, 21%
Patients, 16%
Customer Service, 7%
Telephone Inquiries, 6%
Customer Support, 5%
Home Health, 3%

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Zippia Careers
Healthcare Support Industry
Care Associate
Care Associate vs Customer Care Associate

Updated January 8, 2025

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