{"id":14158,"date":"2022-01-12T10:31:14","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T18:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.testing.com\/?post_type=article&#038;p=14158"},"modified":"2026-02-12T02:11:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T10:11:50","slug":"you-and-your-health-care-provider","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.testing.com\/articles\/you-and-your-health-care-provider\/","title":{"rendered":"You and Your Health Care Provider"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"p-Yn81Zh\">In this article:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\" id=\"li-kgql9x\">Patients today work more closely than ever with a range of different health care providers.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\" id=\"li-KAUM2L\">Health care providers include doctors, nurses, and many others who deliver services directly to patients. Each type has distinct training and education.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\" id=\"li-b1d8RM\">Knowing the different types of healthcare providers empowers patients to establish better relationships with their health care team.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\" id=\"li-oQMd53\">Learning how to find and communicate with healthcare providers is an important step for receiving tailored, patient-centered care.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr id=\"hr-jvuUN0\">\n<p id=\"p-UO26cr\">One of the most important trends in medicine is the growth of patient-centered care. Core tenets of patient-centered care include making you as the patient feel respected, informed, and empowered in medical decision-making.<\/p>\n<p id=\"p-Kvdxzy\">In order to be engaged in this way, you need to know who is providing your care. While it&rsquo;s common to immediately think of &ldquo;going to the doctor&rdquo; for health concerns, it&rsquo;s likely that you receive important services from several types of health professionals.<\/p>\n<p id=\"p-OCEkUA\">The term <b id=\"b-SPZxyi\">health care provider<\/b> describes any professional that delivers health services to patients. Doctors, physician assistants, nurses, psychologists, health educators, and physical therapists are just a few examples of common health care providers.<\/p>\n<p id=\"p-KTbGCv\">Patients frequently interact with multiple health care providers that are part of their health care team. Each type of health care provider has distinct training and experience, and the extensive terminology to describe them can leave you wondering:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\" id=\"li-pJGxD9\">What is a health care provider?<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\" id=\"li-owh31b\">What are the different types of health care providers?<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\" id=\"li-ZVKckh\">Who is on my health care team and what is their training and experience?<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\" id=\"li-2sOvo7\">How do I find a high-quality health care provider?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"p-aQAz7i\">Understanding the answers to these questions can help you build stronger relationships with your health care providers and enable you to actively participate in medical care that is adapted to your needs. You can learn to improve communication with your health care providers when you understand their roles and unique perspectives. This can empower you to ask them questions based on patient-centered care, such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\" id=\"li-jpP3Wd\">How do I help ensure my best possible care?<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\" id=\"li-awWvix\">How do I express my health care preferences, values and priorities?<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\" id=\"li-D4087m\">How do we incorporate those into my health care plan to help guide medical decisions?<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\" id=\"li-6rGhzU\">How do I provide feedback about my health care experiences?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Understanding test results means working closely with health care providers. Read about patient-centered medicine and the people who form your health care team. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[],"keyword":[],"class_list":["post-14158","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"city":"","state":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>You and Your Health Care Provider - Testing.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Understanding test results means working closely with health care providers. 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