What Is the Definition of a Health Care Provider?

The term health-care provider is very broad. It covers a variety of skills in many possible settings. Regardless of the environment, all health-care providers have one goal in mind: to ensure that the patient receives the highest level of care with the resources available.

Identification

• Health-care providers include therapists in all disciplines, from psychiatric to speech. Occupational and physical therapists also provide care to patients. Doctors, nurses and certified nursing assistants are health-care providers. Services are rendered by health-care providers in hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation facilities and even the patient's home.

Significance

• Health-care providers are the backbone of the health-care system. Whether the insurance company is commercial or governmental, providers are required to give patients life-sustaining care.

Considerations

• Health-care providers are not always licensed professionals. In some cases, unlicensed individuals are trained to provide basic care to patients. Allowing an unlicensed person to provide care cuts the cost involved without limiting the quality of care. It also frees a licensed provider to render care where a high level of service is required. Medicaid often adopts this method of care because beneficiaries often have limited resources to pay for services.

History

• Modern medicine has revolutionized the way care is rendered. In the past, health-care providers were only able to alleviate pain and allow patients to die comfortably. Health-care providers anticipate issues before they occur and take steps to prevent them from happening. Health-care providers are also required to use technology to chart patient data via laptops and PDAs.

Benefits

• Health-care providers take some of the responsibility away from the patient in understanding their care. Nurses, for example, teach patients about medications and educate the patient on possible side effects. For elderly patients, this is a particularly important task as many don't have caregivers to take on this responsibility.

Warning

• Some providers abuse patients and manipulate their trust. All cases of patient abuse should be reported to Adult Protective Services, located in every county.