A health care provider is an individual
health professional or a
health facility organization licensed to provide
health care
Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...
diagnosis and
treatment services including
medication
Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to medical diagnosis, diagnose, cure, treat, or preventive medicine, prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmaco ...
,
surgery
Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...
and
medical devices. Health care providers often receive payments for their services rendered from
health insurance
Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...
providers.
In the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, the
Department of Health and Human Services defines a health care provider as any "person or organization who furnishes, bills, or is paid for health care in the normal course of business."
Individual providers
In the United States, the law defines a healthcare provider as a "doctor of medicine or osteopathy who is authorized to practice medicine or surgery" by the state, or anyone else designated by the
United States Secretary of Labor as being able to provide health care services.
In general, this is seen to include:
*
Physician, a professional who practices medicine
*
Advanced practice provider, a trained health worker who has a defined scope of practice
*
Allied health professional, a non-physician clinician who delivers health care services
*
Health professional, any person involved in the delivery of health care
Institutional providers
*
Hospital network, an organization that operates multiple hospitals and clinics offering comprehensive health care services
*
Health system, any organization responsible for delivering care to a population
*
Medical group, a partnership of physicians who share resources
*
Hospital
A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...
, a health care facility delivering emergency, intensive care, and other health care services for high-needs patients
*
Clinic, a health care facility delivering non-emergency health care services in an office setting
See also
* {{section link, Health care in the United States#Providers
References
Health care
Health care occupations
Types of health care facilities
Health care industry