What does a health technician do?
A health technician is responsible for supporting medical operations in a health care facility by performing administrative and clerical duties, ensuring that the organization provides the highest quality care service to the patients. Health technicians process patients' information, manage their medical payments, monitor their conditions as instructed by physicians, maintain an organized medical chart, administer medication, and assist in conducting medical procedures. They also check the adequacy of stock inventories and write request reports, as well as inspecting the cleanliness of all the medical tools and equipment during operations.
Health technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real health technician resumes:
- Maintain and manage medical and administrative records for all patients assign to clinic area to assure accurate care and patient confidentiality.
- Supervise labs, diets, schedule radiology procedures, EKG's, respiratory, and medical tasks for patients.
- Can perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), first aid, and/or initiate appropriate emergency alert notifications.
- Administer ABA therapy for children with autism and provide support for other technicians when not with own clients.
- Assist providers in direct physical examinations, minor procedures, emergency care to include CPR, and other clinical duties.
- Assist children with autism spectrum disorders in learning life still and helping them transition successfully in all aspects of their lives.
- Preform electrocardiogram testing and monitoring.
- Assist the client in developing a comprehensive individual rehabilitation plan.
- Assist individuals with there rehabilitation and treatment according to the hospital policy.
- Provide initial EKG interpretation to physician and document final results in electronic medical record.
- Guarantee patient confidence and protect operations by keeping patient care information confidential according to HIPAA standards.
- Perform procedures that involve several types of splints and splinting materials for optimal mobility and security of fracture bones.
- Participate in a side project involving analyzing and interpreting the medical records of patients entering the hospital with suspect meningitis cases.
- Field incoming communications, perform administrative duties such as chart upkeep and telemetry monitoring with close attention to detail and accuracy.
- Help students with IEP goal works.
Health technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Health Technicians are proficient in Patients, Excellent Interpersonal, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Observational skills, Patience, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Health Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 18%
Participated in a side project involving analyzing and interpreting the medical records of patients entering the hospital with suspected meningitis cases.
- Excellent Interpersonal, 8%
Possess excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work in a team environment.
- Customer Service, 8%
Greeted patients with outstanding customer service via in-person and telephone; obtained medical history, insurance coverage, and personal information.
- Blood Pressure, 6%
Worked with a team to perform health screenings including cholesterol, blood pressure, height/weight and body composition, and health coaching
- Veterans, 6%
Provided expertise and assistant on the development and execution of brochures regarding information to veterans and families.
- Vital Signs, 5%
Dispensed medication to patients, obtained/recorded vital signs, scheduled appointments and other administrative responsibilities as needed.
Most health technicians use their skills in "patients," "excellent interpersonal," and "customer service" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential health technician responsibilities here:
Observational skills. The most essential soft skill for a health technician to carry out their responsibilities is observational skills. This skill is important for the role because "psychiatric technicians and aides must watch patients closely and be sensitive to changes in behavior." Additionally, a health technician resume shows how their duties depend on observational skills: "conduct a variety of patient safety monitoring activities such as observational checks. "
Patience. Many health technician duties rely on patience. "working with people who have mental, emotional, or developmental conditions may be challenging," so a health technician will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways health technician responsibilities rely on patience: "take vital signs & document for each patience in the c.i.c.u unit provide total care of patients"
Physical stamina. This is an important skill for health technicians to perform their duties. For an example of how health technician responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "psychiatric technicians and aides must lift, move, and sometimes restrain patients." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a health technician: "performed ekg (electrocardiogram) on their annual physical exam. ".
Interpersonal skills. health technician responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "psychiatric technicians and aides may want to develop a rapport with patients in order to properly care for them." This resume example shows what health technicians do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "possess excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work in a team environment. "
Compassion. Another common skill required for health technician responsibilities is "compassion." This skill comes up in the duties of health technicians all the time, as "psychiatric technicians and aides spend much of their time interacting with patients who have mental, emotional, or developmental conditions." An excerpt from a real health technician resume shows how this skill is central to what a health technician does: "provided compassion and reassurance to students who were not feeling well or injured. "
The three companies that hire the most health technicians are:
- Indian Health Service29 health technicians jobs
- Lakeview Center26 health technicians jobs
- Denver Public Schools16 health technicians jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable health technician resume templates
Build a professional health technician resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your health technician resume.
Compare different health technicians
Health 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.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a health technician are more likely to require skills like "excellent interpersonal," "veterans," "vital signs," and "educational materials." On the other hand, a job as an emergency room technician requires skills like "emt," "bls," "emergency room," and "perform ekg." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
The education levels that emergency room technicians earn slightly differ from health technicians. In particular, emergency room technicians are 1.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a health technician. Additionally, they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Health 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.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real health technician resumes. While health technician responsibilities can utilize skills like "excellent interpersonal," "customer service," "veterans," and "educational materials," health aides use skills like "home health," "community health," "patient care," and "health services."
Health aides may earn a lower salary than health technicians, but health aides earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $30,290. On the other hand, health technicians receive higher pay in the government industry, where they earn an average salary of $43,446.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Health aides tend to reach similar levels of education than health technicians. In fact, they're 2.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for health technicians in the next 3-5 years?
Michael Williams Ph.D.
Director and Associate Professor, Eastern Michigan University
The electronic health record (EHR) integration continues to build in decision aids and artificial intelligence for making better decisions. The EHR has made accessing patient information more available to other practitioners and patients themselves. Another technology that will continue to expand in use is a point of care testing (POC). POC allows for greater flexibility to meet the patient wherever they are, and will see continued expansion. And perhaps, the technology that has indeed expanded, out of necessity during the pandemic, is telehealth.
While telehealth has been available for many years, particularly in rural areas, it wasn't nearly as common in high population areas--patients were expected to go to the provider. Telehealth can eliminate many unnecessary "non-emergency" visits to emergency rooms and can be available, quite easily, in off-hours.
Health technician vs. Emergency medical technician
Emergency medical technicians or EMTs are skilled medical professionals who act as first responders to injured or sick patients. They apply first aid or do emergency medical procedures upon arriving at the area where the emergency happened. For serious or grave injuries, they do not have complete medical equipment at their disposal, so they have limited capacities on the field. Despite that, EMTs do their best to ensure that patients would reach the hospital for such high-risk cases. EMTs are expected to be calm under pressure and have extensive knowledge of first aid and of basic medical procedures.
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 technician resumes include skills like "excellent interpersonal," "veterans," "educational materials," and "educational programs," whereas an emergency medical technician is more likely to list skills in "ems," "life support," "emt-b," and "cleanliness. "
Emergency medical technicians make a very good living in the government industry with an average annual salary of $39,453. On the other hand, health technicians are paid the highest salary in the government industry, with average annual pay of $43,446.emergency medical technicians typically earn similar educational levels compared to health technicians. Specifically, they're 2.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Health technician vs. Customer care technician
The job of a customer care technician depends on the requirements of employers. Part of the technician's responsibilities includes the management of the customers and the maintenance of proper customer relations. Customer care technicians assist customers in addressing their technical problems. The job involves answering phone calls and attending to the needs of the clients. As to the area of employment, the technicians may work in telecommunications where they use office machines or computers.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between health technicians and customer care technicians, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a health technician might have more use for skills like "excellent interpersonal," "customer service," "veterans," and "educational materials." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of customer care technicians require skills like "customer care," "transcription," "home health," and "customer satisfaction. "
The manufacturing industry tends to pay the highest salaries for customer care technicians, with average annual pay of $39,475. Comparatively, the highest health technician annual salary comes from the government industry.In general, customer care technicians hold similar degree levels compared to health technicians. Customer care technicians are 2.2% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of health technician
Updated January 8, 2025
