Admissions clerk vs patient care representative

The differences between admissions clerks and patient care representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an admissions clerk, becoming a patient care representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a patient care representative has an average salary of $33,709, which is higher than the $31,980 average annual salary of an admissions clerk.

The top three skills for an admissions clerk include patients, data entry and customer service. The most important skills for a patient care representative are patients, patient care, and home health.

Admissions clerk vs patient care representative overview

	Admissions Clerk	Patient Care Representative
Yearly salary	$31,980	$33,709
Hourly rate	$15.38	$16.21
Growth rate	-5%	-4%
Number of jobs	123,555	133,317
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 29%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age	47	40
Years of experience	2	4

What does an admissions clerk do?

An admissions clerk caters to all incoming customers, applicants, or patients in a facility. Their primary job is to handle the personal data of those customers, applicants, or patients. They are responsible for communicating this data to their organization's faculty and management, as well as ensuring data security. On a secondary basis, an admissions clerk is responsible for addressing the needs or inquiries of the customers, applicants, or patients they serve. For this position, it is necessary to have strong customer service skills, strong communication skills, and strong problem-solving abilities.

What does a patient care representative do?

PCRs (Patient Care Representatives) are given responsibilities like updating and verifying patient information after every visit, scheduling and reminding patients about appointments, and informing patients about delays and how long the estimated waiting times will be. They are also responsible for obtaining patients' personal information like their address, contact details, insurance information, and medical and surgical history. They must be able to communicate with patients, family members, and medical staff to give them all the information they need to treat the person looking for medical help.

Admissions clerk vs patient care representative salary

Admissions clerks and patient care representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Admissions Clerk	Patient Care Representative
Average salary	$31,980	$33,709
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $41,000	Between $27,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	-	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	Massachusetts General Hospital
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between admissions clerk and patient care representative education

There are a few differences between an admissions clerk and a patient care representative in terms of educational background:

	Admissions Clerk	Patient Care Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 29%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Admissions clerk vs patient care representative demographics

Here are the differences between admissions clerks' and patient care representatives' demographics:

	Admissions Clerk	Patient Care Representative
Average age	47	40
Gender ratio	Male, 12.7% Female, 87.3%	Male, 17.1% Female, 82.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.7% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.3% Asian, 7.0% White, 55.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 12.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 20.3% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	6%	7%

Differences between admissions clerk and patient care representative duties and responsibilities

Admissions clerk example responsibilities.

Manage an adjoining veterinary supply shop that sell medications, animal food and pet equipment.
Register patients via ambulances and lobby registration.
Utilize ICD-9 and CPT-4 coding in admitting patients and pre-certifications/authorizations for admissions and procedures.
Interview incoming patients or representatives and enter information require for admission and emergency department registration into the computer.
Interpret institutes regulations and charges to patients and/or family members, obtaining necessary information and signatures where necessary.
Maintain communications with physicians' offices and unit secretaries/nursing coordinator to ensure bed placement of direct admissions and in-patient surgery candidates.

Patient care representative example responsibilities.

Manage cash and co-payments accurately and discharge patients providing them with proper medical notes and information before exiting.
Verify insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, register patients, and code proper ICD-9 and CPT codes on encounters.
Utilize medical terminology, CPT, HCPC and ICD-9 and patient information into new authorizations.
Interview patients to gather information pertinent to their Medicaid application.
Screen, identify, and enter ICD-9 coding from treatment record forms.
Maintain patient confidentiality and follow HIPAA rules.

Admissions clerk vs patient care representative skills

Common admissions clerk skills

Patients, 42%
Data Entry, 7%
Customer Service, 4%
Insurance Forms, 3%
Computer System, 3%
Patient Demographics, 3%

Common patient care representative skills

Patients, 25%
Patient Care, 13%
Home Health, 7%
Cash Management, 5%
Phone Calls, 4%
CPT, 3%

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Admissions Clerk
Admissions Clerk vs Patient Care Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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