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 provider responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real care provider resumes:
- 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.
- Certify in CPR, PCM, and medication administration for elderly
- check and drain catheter bags, report any and all concerns to superiors.
- Have experience with a variety of seniors ranging from those needing limit assistance to Alzheimer's patients.
- Assist disabled client with routine ADL including medication management.
- Communicate with other healthcare facilities to obtain necessary patient electronic medical records.
- Perform reconciliations and comparative analysis of providers financial information with CMS regulations.
- Verify eligibility of Medicaid clients on a monthly basis to receive reimbursements for services.
- Assist in enrolling and transitioning elderly clients from company own insurance to Medicaid and Medicare.
- Provide companionship, simulating activities, and enriching interactions to promote her physical and emotional well-being.
Care provider skills and personality traits
We calculated that 23% of Care Providers are proficient in Senior Care, Patients, and Administer Medications. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Integrity, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Care Providers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Senior Care, 23%
Care giver and trainer for retirement communities Napa/ Vallejo CA, assisting in senior care and compassion.
- Patients, 13%
Aided and facilitated higher functioning patients reach their fullest potential while managing behavioral episodes as needed.
- Administer Medications, 6%
Administer medications, attend community events with the individual.
- Direct Care, 6%
Provided educational tools/resources and direct care services to help individual reach their maximum potential.
- Meal Prep, 6%
Accompany client to medical appointments *Meal preparation, light housekeeping *Shopping errands
- Patient Care, 6%
Documented and communicated any changes in clients status to supervisor and family resulting in exceptional patient care.
"senior care," "patients," and "administer medications" are among the most common skills that care providers use at work. You can find even more care provider responsibilities below, including:
Detail oriented. One of the key soft skills for a care provider to have is detail oriented. You can see how this relates to what care providers do because "home health aides and personal care aides must adhere to specific rules and protocols and carefully follow instructions to help take care of clients." Additionally, a care provider resume shows how care providers use detail oriented: "cared for assigned patients and kept accurate and detailed records of patient status during the night shift. "
Integrity. Another essential skill to perform care provider duties is integrity. Care providers responsibilities require that "home health aides and personal care aides should make clients feel comfortable when they tend to personal activities, such as helping a client bathe." Care providers also use integrity in their role according to a real resume snippet: "perform daily skin integrity check and maintain physical cleanliness on assigned patients. "
Interpersonal skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of care providers is interpersonal skills. This skill is critical to many everyday care provider duties, as "home health aides and personal care aides must work closely with clients." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "worked with child and achieved yearly habilitation goals including adl's, motor skills, emotional awareness and interpersonal relationships. "
Physical stamina. For certain care provider responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "physical stamina." The day-to-day duties of a care provider rely on this skill, as "home health aides and personal care aides should be comfortable performing physical tasks." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what care providers do: "provided companionship, simulating activities, and enriching interactions to promote her physical and emotional well-being. "
The three companies that hire the most care providers are:
- CARE8,465 care providers jobs
- Visiting Angels24 care providers jobs
- National Mentor Holdings Inc.
18 care providers jobs
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Compare different care providers
Care provider vs. Attending, ambulatory care
An attending, ambulatory care is responsible for providing patient care, supporting ongoing treatment of health issues, and managing recovery through coordinating with attending physicians or other medical professionals. They evaluate medical records, including history and consultation purposes, develop a necessary care plan, keep an accurate medical chart, and schedule laboratory tests and follow-up as needed. An attending, ambulatory care must have extensive knowledge of the medical principles and disciplines to monitor the patients' condition and observe medical measures.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, care provider responsibilities require skills like "compassion," "run errands," "pathogens," and "child care." Meanwhile a typical attending, ambulatory care has skills in areas such as "rehabilitation," "cleanliness," "pet," and "data entry." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Attendings, ambulatory care tend to make the most money working in the government industry, where they earn an average salary of $30,236. In contrast, care providers make the biggest average salary, $32,543, in the government industry.The education levels that attendings, ambulatory care earn slightly differ from care providers. In particular, attendings, ambulatory care are 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a care provider. Additionally, they're 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Care provider vs. Companion
A companion is responsible for assisting sick and recovered patients, as well as the elderly. Companions perform housekeeping duties, ensuring that a facility is well-maintained and safe for the use of the patients. They also monitor the patients' medication, prepare their meals based on a medical professional's prescription, support them on their daily activities, respond to the patients' needs and special requests as allowed, and report any developments to their family or guardians. A companion must be compassionate enough to extend physical and emotional support, depending on the client's condition.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that care provider responsibilities requires skills like "administer medications," "good judgment," "compassion," and "laundry services." But a companion might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "home health," "provide emotional support," "patient safety," and "clean environment."
Companions may earn a lower salary than care providers, but companions earn the most pay in the non profits industry with an average salary of $30,973. On the other hand, care providers receive higher pay in the government industry, where they earn an average salary of $32,543.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Companions tend to reach similar levels of education than care providers. In fact, they're 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Care provider vs. Home health care
Home health aides are healthcare professionals who are responsible for providing support and personal services to patients. These aides are required to monitor their patients by observing the physical and mental condition of their patients. They must provide services such as housekeeping and laundry, buying food and other household requirements, and preparing and serving meals and snacks. Home health aides must also help the family members of their patients by teaching them the appropriate ways to lift, turn, and re-position their positions.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a care provider is likely to be skilled in "administer medications," "direct care," "good judgment," and "customer service," while a typical home health care is skilled in "home health," "social work," "health care services," and "occupational therapy."
Most home health cares achieve a similar degree level compared to care providers. For example, they're 1.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Care provider vs. Sitter
A sitter is responsible for assisting medical needs under the supervision of an attending physician, registered nurses, and other health professionals. Sitters monitor the patients' daily activities and perform medical duties such as taking the patient's temperature, administering medications, monitoring food intake, helping with bathing needs, and responding to the patients' inquiries, concerns, and requests. They also keep track of medical charts to report the patients' health condition and progress to the senior staff.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between care providers and sitters, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a care provider might have more use for skills like "senior care," "administer medications," "direct care," and "good judgment." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of sitters require skills like "kids," "patient safety," "home health," and "pet. "
In general, sitters earn the most working in the non profits industry, with an average salary of $33,017. The highest-paying industry for a care provider is the government industry.In general, sitters hold similar degree levels compared to care providers. Sitters are 0.9% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of care provider
Updated January 8, 2025
