What Is a Health Care Provider?

Health care providers are more than kindly old family doctors---they're any professional who provides services to health care "consumers" (patients). Today, more professionals provide more types of direct care and specialized ancillary services than ever due to a larger and more diverse population of consumers, advancing medical science and technology---and higher insurance costs.

Direct Providers

• Doctors, surgeons, chiropractors, dentists, psychiatrists, nurse-practitioners, physician's assistants and others provide direct medical care to patients. Some specialists may see patients only a few times, but many serve as general or family physicians who serve patients on a continuing basis.

Support Professionals

• Nurses, pharmacists, optometrists, nutritionists, therapists, counselors, health education personnel---even medical transcribers---provide support and follow-up for professionals who provide direct medical care.

Laboratory Personnel

• Radiologists, phlebotomists and assorted pathologists provide medical testing services and skilled assessments of tests.

Urgent Care

• EMTs, paramedics and emergency room personnel provide first-response care, stabilizing and providing immediate medical intervention for critically ill patients and victims of violence or accidents.

Other Practitioners

• Some churches (e.g. Church of Christ Scientist) authorize specific health providers, and certain traditional native healers may be recognized by the government (and thus are eligible to benefit from government programs like Medicare).

Hospitals and Clinics

• Hospitals and clinics provide equipment, facilities and managers to deliver up-to-date, accessible equipment and services to communities.

Healthcare Plans

• Plans include Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) that establish networks of providers who agree on standards and practices in prevention and patient care; insurance companies that provide indemnification to providers and establish customary fees for services; and employers, who choose and partially fund both.