CIPSRT | Provider

Glossary of Terms

A health care provider is a clinician or therapist who provides direct care to a patient or client or, sometimes, to a group of patients or clients. This individual may provide a wide variety of services.
A health care provider can also be an organization, or the administrative staff or the governing body of a health care organization, responsible for managing or administering aspects of the care that is being delivered to patients or clients within that organization.
All health care providers have a “duty of care” to their patients or clients; specifically, the care providers must take reasonable care to avoid anything that can cause harm or lead to the harm of those in their care.⁵⁸
Doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, nurse practitioners, physician’s assistants, medical technicians, respiratory technologists, dentists, physiotherapists, optometrists, and hospital organizations are examples of health care providers.
Individual health care providers may work in a health care facility (e.g. a hospital, clinic, or private office) and may provide care in person, over the phone, or virtually, via the Internet.

A health care provider is an individual (or a group of individuals, or an organization) that provides services from across the health care continuum to patients or clients.
All health care providers—including hospital administrators or the hospital institution itself—have a “duty of care” to their patients or clients, that is, “the responsibility or legal obligation … to avoid acts or omissions that could likely cause harm to others.”⁵⁸
A health care provider may work in a health care facility such as a hospital or in a clinic or private office, and may provide care in person, by phone, or virtually, over the Internet. Or a health care provider may be a hospital or clinic administrator or the governing body of a health care institution.