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The differences between health care assistants and patient care technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a health care assistant has an average salary of $34,892, which is higher than the $32,806 average annual salary of a patient care technician.
The top three skills for a health care assistant include patients, customer service and healthcare. The most important skills for a patient care technician are patients, vital signs, and phlebotomy.
| Health Care Assistant | Patient Care Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $34,892 | $32,806 |
| Hourly rate | $16.77 | $15.77 |
| Growth rate | 36% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 242,669 | 167,520 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 27% |
| Average age | 50 | 34 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A health care assistant primarily performs support tasks to help nurses in providing care and assistance to patients. Their duties usually include assisting patients with their daily hygienic tasks such as bathing, going to the toilet, dressing, and brushing their teeth. They may also prepare meals according to protocols and guidelines, feed patients, assist them when walking, and run other errands as necessary. Most importantly, a health care assistant monitors the patients' condition and their treatment progress, coordinating with the nurses and physicians regularly.
Patient care technicians are medical workers who work in clinics, hospitals, or other medical facilities under the supervision of doctors or other health professionals. They provide assistance to health professionals and patients. They help patients with mobility concerns get into hospital beds, bathrooms, wheelchairs, and more. They also help patients with their physical therapy sessions and other physical needs. They handle patient concerns and communicate these to attending physicians. They may be assigned to administer basic medical procedures such as checking vital signs and collecting samples from patients, among others.
Health care assistants and patient care technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Health Care Assistant | Patient Care Technician | |
| Average salary | $34,892 | $32,806 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $47,000 | Between $24,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | Antioch, CA | Rochester, NH |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Vermont |
| Best paying company | Medical University of South Carolina | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center |
| Best paying industry | Education | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a health care assistant and a patient care technician in terms of educational background:
| Health Care Assistant | Patient Care Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 27% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | Emory University |
Here are the differences between health care assistants' and patient care technicians' demographics:
| Health Care Assistant | Patient Care Technician | |
| Average age | 50 | 34 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 18.8% Female, 81.2% | Male, 19.0% Female, 81.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 24.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 23.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 35.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | Black or African American, 14.3% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 6.4% White, 51.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 15% |