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What does a health care technician do?

Updated January 8, 2025
9 min read
Quoted expert
Jill Carlson

A health care technician works with laboratory equipment used for the analysis of specimens for diagnosis. The health care technician's role is an integral part of a health care facility as all proper diagnosis stems from accurate laboratory results. Included with a healthcare technician's tasks is to take vital signs, collect samples, and work closely with doctors during patient consultations and check-ups. The health care technician typically works inside a laboratory and is expected to keep the area clean and all equipment is all in working order.

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Health care technician responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real health care technician resumes:

  • Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
  • Maintain and operate delivery vehicle need to safely transport necessary equipment to patients on a regularly schedule basis.
  • Observe, report and document pertinent information about patients per policy, to include communication with direct supervisor and treatment team.
  • Field incoming communications, perform administrative duties such as chart upkeep and telemetry monitoring with close attention to detail and accuracy.
  • Utilize interviewing skills in order to fill out patient's care programs/interests and organized/file patient records manually and with EMR.
  • Work in-home, providing compassionate care for older adults with Alzheimer's disease.
  • Work with people who suffer from dementia, Alzheimer, autism, paralyze, wheel chair or bed bound.
  • Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.

Health care technician skills and personality traits

We calculated that 17% of Health Care Technicians are proficient in Patients, CPR, and Plant Health. They’re also known for soft skills such as Observational skills, Compassion, and Patience.

We break down the percentage of Health Care Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 17%

    Maintained and operated delivery vehicle needed to safely transport necessary equipment to patients on a regularly scheduled basis.

  • CPR, 13%

    Received my CPR Certification License, Restraint and Therapeutic Crisis Intervention Strategy License, as well as Medication Administration License.

  • Plant Health, 12%

    Assessed tree and plant health, diagnosed plant diseases, and administered treatments.

  • Customer Service, 12%

    Managed payment from customers and provided excellent customer service to customers.

  • Vital Signs, 5%

    Record vital signs, Report and Document any symptom that may require medical attention.

  • Care Tech, 5%

    Trained new health care technicians, teaching skills, equipment use and protocols needed to be successful.

Most health care technicians use their skills in "patients," "cpr," and "plant health" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential health care technician responsibilities here:

Observational skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a health care technician to have is observational skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "psychiatric technicians and aides must watch patients closely and be sensitive to changes in behavior." Health care technicians often use observational skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "conduct a variety of patient safety monitoring activities such as observational checks. "

Compassion. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling health care technician duties is compassion. The role rewards competence in this skill because "psychiatric technicians and aides spend much of their time interacting with patients who have mental, emotional, or developmental conditions." According to a health care technician resume, here's how health care technicians can utilize compassion in their job responsibilities: "demonstrated proper work methods, seizure management, and compassion in the caring for one blind adolescent with batten's disease. "

Patience. health care technicians are also known for patience, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to health care technician responsibilities, because "working with people who have mental, emotional, or developmental conditions may be challenging." A health care technician resume example shows how patience is used in the workplace: "practice patience, compassion and empathy in all interactions with residents. "

Interpersonal skills. A big part of what health care technicians do relies on "interpersonal skills." You can see how essential it is to health care technician responsibilities because "psychiatric technicians and aides may want to develop a rapport with patients in order to properly care for them." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical health care technician tasks: "functioned as a role model of healthy interpersonal relationships and demonstrated appropriate behavior for parents, family, and staff. "

Physical stamina. A commonly-found skill in health care technician job descriptions, "physical stamina" is essential to what health care technicians do. Health care technician responsibilities rely on this skill because "psychiatric technicians and aides must lift, move, and sometimes restrain patients." You can also see how health care technician duties rely on physical stamina in this resume example: "provide physical therapy, weekly monitoring to establish overall physical requirements for patients. "

See the full list of health care technician skills

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Compare different health care technicians

Health care technician vs. Mental health associate

As a mental health associate, you will assist the medical team members in diagnosing and treating individuals with mental, developmental, and behavioral conditions. You may be tasked to facilitate individual and group therapy sessions, help patients with their day-to-day activities such as self-care and hygiene, and assist in administering medications prescribed by physicians. Other duties include planning and leading program activities, attending treatment rounds, and assisting with the physical care of patients. The qualifications and skills required for this role include a bachelor's degree in social science or psychology, previous work experience, and certification on basic life support.

If we compare the average health care technician annual salary with that of a mental health associate, we find that mental health associates typically earn a $43 lower salary than health care technicians make annually.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between health care technicians and mental health associates are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like patients, cpr, and customer service.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a health care technician are more likely to require skills like "plant health," "care tech," "lawn care," and "catheter." On the other hand, a job as a mental health associate requires skills like "safety checks," "social work," "crisis intervention," and "immunization." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Mental health associates earn the highest salaries when working in the professional industry, with an average yearly salary of $37,746. On the other hand, health care technicians are paid more in the government industry with an average salary of $37,411.mental health associates tend to reach higher levels of education than health care technicians. In fact, mental health associates are 9.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Health care technician vs. Health aide

A health aide is responsible for providing care and assistance to patients in medical facilities, care centers, and even at home. They typically help patients by administering medicines, monitoring their blood pressure and vital signs, facilitating exercises, preparing meals, providing emotional support, and assisting them in performing hygienic tasks such as bathing, dressing, brushing teeth, and going to the toilet. Furthermore, as a health aide, it is essential to monitor the behavior and progress of patients, reporting to nurses and physicians regularly.

On average, health aides earn a $6,119 lower salary than health care technicians a year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Health care technicians and health aides both require similar skills like "patients," "cpr," and "vital signs" to carry out their responsibilities.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, health care technician responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "plant health," "customer service," "care tech," and "ekg." Meanwhile, a health aide has duties that require skills in areas such as "community health," "health services," "math," and "emergency care." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

On average, health aides earn a lower salary than health care technicians. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, health aides earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $30,290. Whereas health care technicians have higher pay in the government industry, with an average salary of $37,411.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Health aides tend to reach similar levels of education than health care technicians. In fact, they're 0.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for health care technicians in the next 3-5 years?

Jill CarlsonJill Carlson LinkedIn profile

Office Manager, Center for Vital Health, BS Healthcare Administration

In all areas of employment, I really think that we will see more people working from home and, therefore, new graduates need to be proficient in the various online platforms that are available. We have all seen the funny commercials or clips of the person who forgot to mute or turn of their camera. A lot really goes into how those meeting work, it is so much more than just logging in and turning on your webcam and audio functions. The administrator of the class or meeting needs to know how to do a variety of tasks such as sharing a screen, sending attendees into break out rooms, removing people from the meeting and muting mics when the attendees forget, and that is not even all of it. The members attending a virtual class or meeting also need to learn how to navigate the different platforms.

Specifically, in the medical field, we have seen in-office appointments decrease dramatically as people are required to stay home. Not only have medical offices had to learn quickly how to have an appointment via telemedicine, but the patients have also had to adapt to this new way of seeing their healthcare provider. I believe we will see more programs and phone apps that allow provider and patients to connect quicker and easier.

In a nutshell, I really think that we will see courses in our post-secondary schools, and maybe even junior high and high school, that teach students how to navigate the online meeting platforms as well has enhancements in telemedicine visits. I think the COVID-19 pandemic has created a new pathway in healthcare and we will need highly trained individuals to work through these systems and educate patients.

Health care technician vs. Emergency room technician

An Emergency Room Technician works in emergency departments dealing with patients who suffer from medical emergencies. They also assist with transporting patients into and out of the department for different medical tests.

On average scale, emergency room technicians bring in lower salaries than health care technicians. In fact, they earn a $586 lower salary per year.By looking over several health care technicians and emergency room technicians resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "patients," "cpr," and "customer service." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from health care technician resumes include skills like "plant health," "vital signs," "care tech," and "ekg," whereas an emergency room technician is more likely to list skills in "emt," "bls," "emergency room," and "phlebotomy. "

When it comes to education, emergency room technicians tend to earn similar degree levels compared to health care technicians. In fact, they're 1.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Health care technician vs. Certified medical technician

Certified Medical Technicians are specialists in medical diagnoses by performing laboratory testing and analysis for hospitals and physicians. Their duties include lab sanitization to prepare for testing and collection, recording medical samples for testing, specimen preparation, blood drawing for donation and testing, and assisting physicians with sample collection as well as equipment handling in surgical rooms. They must also understand how to use complex and sensitive testing equipment such as cell counters, analyzers, microscopes, and centrifuges.

Certified medical technicians typically earn higher pay than health care technicians. On average, certified medical technicians earn a $2,306 higher salary per year.While both health care technicians and certified medical technicians complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like patients, cpr, and vital signs, the two careers vary in some skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between health care technicians and certified medical technicians, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a health care technician might have more use for skills like "plant health," "customer service," "care tech," and "lawn care." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of certified medical technicians require skills like "administer medications," "resident care," "cmt," and "test results. "

The health care industry tends to pay the highest salaries for certified medical technicians, with average annual pay of $36,214. Comparatively, the highest health care technician annual salary comes from the government industry.In general, certified medical technicians hold similar degree levels compared to health care technicians. Certified medical technicians are 0.5% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of health care technician

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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