Admissions clerk vs patient registrar

The differences between admissions clerks and patient registrars 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 registrar takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a patient registrar has an average salary of $33,494, 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 registrar are patients, customer service, and medical terminology.

Admissions clerk vs patient registrar overview

	Admissions Clerk	Patient Registrar
Yearly salary	$31,980	$33,494
Hourly rate	$15.38	$16.10
Growth rate	-5%	-4%
Number of jobs	123,555	86,721
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 29%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
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 registrar do?

A patient registrar is responsible for receiving patients in a hospital or other health care institutions, verifying their information, and leading them to the appropriate facility for their health care needs. Patient registrars manage the hospital's database, updating patients' information, confirming insurance details, taking calls, responding to patients' inquiries and concerns, scheduling appointments, and performing related administrative and clerical tasks as needed. A patient registrar must have excellent communication and organizational skills to provide the best quality care services to the patients.

Admissions clerk vs patient registrar salary

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

	Admissions Clerk	Patient Registrar
Average salary	$31,980	$33,494
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $41,000	Between $26,000 And $42,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	Massachusetts
Best paying company	-	Guidehouse
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between admissions clerk and patient registrar education

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

	Admissions Clerk	Patient Registrar
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 29%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Admissions clerk vs patient registrar demographics

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

	Admissions Clerk	Patient Registrar
Average age	47	40
Gender ratio	Male, 12.7% Female, 87.3%	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%
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, 11.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 23.0% Asian, 6.4% White, 53.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	7%

Differences between admissions clerk and patient registrar 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.

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Patient registrar example responsibilities.

Process release of information requests according to HIPAA regulations and manage valuables safe for entire facility.
Specialize in high degree of compassion when communicating with patients providing information and insurance details.
Receive patients, record patient demographic information and verify insurance for emergency department, laboratory, and radiology
Register patients and ensure correctness of all demographic information in AS400, verify insurance on various websites and collect patient co-payments.
Update demographics, billing information, Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance during patient interviews to obtain pertinent registration information.
Enter confidential personal health information and financial information into IDX system with a high rate of accuracy and confidentiality.

Admissions clerk vs patient registrar skills

Common admissions clerk skills

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

Common patient registrar skills

Patients, 25%
Customer Service, 11%
Medical Terminology, 11%
Patient Registration, 4%
Patient Care, 4%
Insurance Verification, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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