Types of Healthcare Providers

Health care providers are divided into three distinct categories of service. The three categories of health care providers are further divided into different career paths and health care specialties. The nature and circumstances of a person's injury or illness ultimately determines which type of health care provider he comes into contact with.

Primary Care

• Primary care providers include family doctors and nurse practitioners whom patients see first when an illness or injury occurs. This can also include regular checkups and maintenance care conducted by a gynecologist, pediatrician or other medical doctor versed in internal medicine. Under normal circumstances, this is the first and only medical professional a person sees -- an illness is diagnosed, a prescription is written or course of treatment is conducted and the person leaves the doctor's office on the road to recovery.

Specialist Care Providers

• Specialist health care providers include such medical personnel as neurologists, dermatologists and cardiologists. These are medical personnel with specialized training in a certain area of medicine and are called into a case when a family doctor or other medical professional is not able to diagnose an illness or a particular problem exceeds his level of expertise. Specialist care providers take over for the family doctor, overseeing treatment once the illness is diagnosed, or may refer a patient to a different specialist if the injury or illness is found to be outside the current specialist's expertise.

Nursing Care

• Nursing care is given in an emergency room or other hospital setting by registered nurses, licensed practical nurses or clinical nurse specialists. Care such as this uses a triage model of medicine where those with the gravest injuries are seen first. Other medical services involving nursing care can involve baby delivery, prenatal care and anesthesia monitoring in surgical situations. Outside of a hospital or emergency room setting, nursing care may be administered in long-term care facilities for the elderly or disabled.