Patient care assistant vs care provider

The differences between patient care assistants and care providers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a patient care assistant has an average salary of $32,799, which is higher than the $29,652 average annual salary of a care provider.

The top three skills for a patient care assistant include patients, vital signs and PCA. The most important skills for a care provider are senior care, patients, and administer medications.

Patient care assistant vs care provider overview

	Patient Care Assistant	Care Provider
Yearly salary	$32,799	$29,652
Hourly rate	$15.77	$14.26
Growth rate	9%	36%
Number of jobs	261,345	169,562
Job satisfaction	5	5
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 26%	High School Diploma, 30%
Average age	42	48
Years of experience	3	-

What does a patient care assistant do?

A patient care assistant is responsible for attending patients' needs with the supervision of a health care professional. Duties of a patient care assistant also include performing basic medical tasks such as taking patients' temperature, monitoring food intake, preparing medicines, recording health conditions, assisting on lab tests and other medical procedures, and providing information and important updates to the patient's family. A patient care assistant must have excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to perform duties efficiently and accurately.

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.

Patient care assistant vs care provider salary

Patient care assistants and care providers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Patient Care Assistant	Care Provider
Average salary	$32,799	$29,652
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $45,000	Between $17,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	San Diego, CA	Attleboro, MA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Microsoft	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Best paying industry	Health Care	Government

Differences between patient care assistant and care provider education

There are a few differences between a patient care assistant and a care provider in terms of educational background:

	Patient Care Assistant	Care Provider
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 26%	High School Diploma, 30%
Most common major	Nursing	Business
Most common college	-	-

Patient care assistant vs care provider demographics

Here are the differences between patient care assistants' and care providers' demographics:

	Patient Care Assistant	Care Provider
Average age	42	48
Gender ratio	Male, 14.4% Female, 85.6%	Male, 22.1% Female, 77.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 7.3% White, 61.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 22.3% Asian, 8.3% White, 54.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient care assistant and care provider duties and responsibilities

Patient care assistant example responsibilities.

Conduct and facilitate PCA lead group activities as scheduled
Assist patients in achieving independence and increase functional ability.
Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
Answer call lights, vital signs, EKG'S, transporting patients to other areas, keep rooms clean and orderly.
Provide high quality patient care as an in-demand per-diem RCA within, home-healthcare, nursing home settings and memory support care.
Work extensively with Alzheimer and dementia patients.

Care provider example responsibilities.

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.

Patient care assistant vs care provider skills

Common patient care assistant skills

Patients, 23%
Vital Signs, 9%
PCA, 8%
CPR, 7%
Home Health, 6%
Customer Service, 5%

Common care provider skills

Senior Care, 23%
Patients, 13%
Administer Medications, 6%
Direct Care, 6%
Meal Prep, 6%
Patient Care, 6%

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Healthcare Support Industry
Patient Care Assistant
Patient Care Assistant vs Care Provider

Updated January 8, 2025

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