ABSTRACT
Provider is an established qualification and role that can diagnose, decide on a plan of care, treat, and bill for services. In small clinics or practices, the practice manager is generally charged with managing the day to day of the operations like scheduling, billing, ordering supplies, managing vendors and profit/loss for the clinic while providers and physician leaders provide care. The clinical staff support the providers in the “back office” or remotely. Frequently medical assistants are employed to manage a bulk of the non-provider care tasks, but there are also Licensed Practical Nurses/Licensed Vocational Nurses, Registered Nurses, and other specialty assistants. Patients are not all the same as they have different health needs and wants. Patients are different ages and come from different generations; patients come from different income levels; patients have different lifestyles and risk factors; and patients have various preferences.
