How To Become An Admitting Clerk: What It Is and Career Path

What is an admitting clerk and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Hospitals or other medical establishments can be scary places. Patients enter full of uncertainty, often nervous about their health or the success of a scheduled procedure. They may not even know where to turn for help since the hospital is such a busy place. The admitting clerk is the first point of contact for patients and their loved ones as they begin the road to recovery.

Admitting clerks take care of all of the administrative aspects of entering a hospital or other medical office, such as taking down patient data and processing insurance information. Truly great admitting clerks go above and beyond and provide a human side to the hospital experience comforting nervous patients.

The most important skills for an admitting clerk to have are excellent customer service skills, administrative skills, and a knowledge of medical records and other procedures. Most of these skills can be learned on the job, which is why few admitting clerks have bachelor's degrees.

ScoreAdmitting ClerkUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $31,833

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

9.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.00%

Asian 4.51%

Black or African American 13.06%

Hispanic or Latino 22.39%

Unknown 5.44%

White 53.60%

Gender

female 90.68%

male 9.32%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

5.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.1

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.8

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an admitting clerk

Explore admitting clerk education requirements

Most common admitting clerk degrees

Associate

28.9 %

High School Diploma

24.4 %

Bachelor's

22.4 %

Start to develop specific admitting clerk skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	40.32%
Customer Service	10.01%
Medical Terminology	5.29%
Data Entry	4.90%
Computer System	3.30%

Complete relevant admitting clerk training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New admitting clerks learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an admitting clerk based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real admitting clerk resumes.

Gain additional admitting clerk certifications

Admitting clerk certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific admitting clerk certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for admitting clerks include Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) and Certified Medical Office Manager (CMOM).

More About Certifications

Research admitting clerk duties and responsibilities

Manage confidential patient information according to HIPPA guidelines.
Assist patients with benefit verification, including Medicare and Medicaid.
Perform online verification of Medicaid and Medicare admissions to insure eligibility.
Schedule patients for special procedures and radiology exams, obtain prior authorizations and referrals.

Prepare your admitting clerk resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your admitting clerk resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an admitting clerk resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable admitting clerk resume templates

Build a professional admitting clerk resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your admitting clerk resume.

Apply for admitting clerk jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an admitting clerk job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do admitting clerks rate their job?

-/5

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1 star

Admitting clerk reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020

Pros

Putting that patient/customet first and directing (directions) that person to their Doctors office and setting or cancelling their appointments, just helping people.

Cons

There's nothing to dislike.

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2019