Health care provider vs primary care provider

The differences between health care providers and primary care providers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a health care provider has an average salary of $39,309, which is higher than the $35,422 average annual salary of a primary care provider.

The top three skills for a health care provider include patients, meal prep and mental health. The most important skills for a primary care provider are patients, internal medicine, and family practice.

Health care provider vs primary care provider overview

	Health Care Provider	Primary Care Provider
Yearly salary	$39,309	$35,422
Hourly rate	$18.90	$17.03
Growth rate	36%	36%
Number of jobs	236,098	103,863
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 31%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Average age	50	48
Years of experience	-	-

What does a health care provider do?

A health care provider offers health care services such as the diagnosis of diseases in medical laboratories, imaging centers, or treatment services. Your job responsibility as a health care provider may be to look after the well-being of patients and provide specific medical care to them. Your job is to meet clients at the point of their needs when they have medical challenges and provide a solution to them.

What does a primary care provider do?

Primary Care Providers, also known as general practitioners instead of specialists, are doctors trained to be the first point of contact for a patient entering the health care system. They diagnose, treat, and prevent a broad range of injuries and illnesses from allergies and colds to longer-term conditions such as Diabetes Mellitus. Their duties include performing lab tests to identify a condition, prescribing medications, checking for drug interactions, provide wound care, executing spirometry tests and electrocardiograms, and coordinating specialist care for your condition. A Primary Care Provider will also help create self-care plans prescribing a certain diet and recommending exercise routines.

Health care provider vs primary care provider salary

Health care providers and primary care providers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Health Care Provider	Primary Care Provider
Average salary	$39,309	$35,422
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $61,000	Between $21,000 And $58,000
Highest paying City	-	Santa Rosa, CA
Highest paying state	-	Connecticut
Best paying company	-	AstraZeneca
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between health care provider and primary care provider education

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

	Health Care Provider	Primary Care Provider
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 31%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Most common major	Business	Nursing
Most common college	-	-

Health care provider vs primary care provider demographics

Here are the differences between health care providers' and primary care providers' demographics:

	Health Care Provider	Primary Care Provider
Average age	50	48
Gender ratio	Male, 20.1% Female, 79.9%	Male, 26.8% Female, 73.2%
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, 10.7% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 9.7% White, 53.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%
LGBT Percentage	5%	7%

Differences between health care provider and primary care provider duties and responsibilities

Health care provider example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
Provide assistance including administering prescribe oral medications to ADL patients.
Maintain all client confidentiality, licensing and CPR compliance records.
Full personal care attendant, CPR license, documentation, friendly and courteous.
Help with daily activities, transfers, bathing, medical documentation, ordering supplies, and catheter care.
Provide support and aid in problematic situations involving incontinence, cognitive impairment, mobility, and Alzheimer care.

Primary care provider example responsibilities.

Manage provider network to include verifying claims and benefits for healthcare providers/members and insurance companies.
Work alongside ABA therapists to continue to apply appropriate behavioral techniques.
Examine patients and carefully analyze test results and information gather during examinations to properly diagnose illnesses and diseases.
Used strong oral and written communications skills to develop and maintain effective relationships with patients, co-workers and international medical professionals.
Provide caring companionship to developmentally disabled/elderly residents.
Assist with toileting, including bedpans, urinals and commode chairs.

Health care provider vs primary care provider skills

Common health care provider skills

Patients, 27%
Meal Prep, 11%
Mental Health, 9%
Social Work, 8%
Laundry Services, 7%
Home Health, 7%

Common primary care provider skills

Patients, 31%
Internal Medicine, 13%
Family Practice, 12%
Patient Care, 11%
Urgent Care, 10%
NP, 4%

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Healthcare Support Industry
Health Care Provider
Health Care Provider vs Primary Care Provider

Updated January 8, 2025

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