Admitting clerk vs patient care representative

The differences between admitting 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 admitting 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 $31,833 average annual salary of an admitting clerk.

The top three skills for an admitting clerk include patients, customer service and medical terminology. The most important skills for a patient care representative are patients, patient care, and home health.

Admitting clerk vs patient care representative overview

	Admitting Clerk	Patient Care Representative
Yearly salary	$31,833	$33,709
Hourly rate	$15.30	$16.21
Growth rate	-	-4%
Number of jobs	106,698	133,317
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 29%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age	42	40
Years of experience	2	4

What does an admitting clerk do?

The job of an admitting clerk is to register and admit patients to a hospital. Admitting clerks interview patients in getting the necessary financial and medical information for the admission. They verify the insurance of patients and make sure that their registration forms are accurately signed. Usually, they work on the medical profession and hospital front lines. They welcome and face customers and need to understand medicine. Also, they are expected to manage doctors, nurses, patients, and hospital policies.

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.

Admitting clerk vs patient care representative salary

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

	Admitting Clerk	Patient Care Representative
Average salary	$31,833	$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 admitting clerk and patient care representative education

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

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

Admitting clerk vs patient care representative demographics

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

	Admitting Clerk	Patient Care Representative
Average age	42	40
Gender ratio	Male, 9.3% Female, 90.7%	Male, 17.1% Female, 82.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 13.1% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 22.4% Asian, 4.5% White, 53.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	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	9%	7%

Differences between admitting clerk and patient care representative duties and responsibilities

Admitting clerk example 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.
Release medical records upon request and maintain confidentiality of patients information under HIPPA law.
Process paperwork for various departments including insurance, surgery, radiology, laboratory and the emergency room.

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.

Admitting clerk vs patient care representative skills

Common admitting clerk skills

Patients, 40%
Customer Service, 10%
Medical Terminology, 5%
Data Entry, 5%
Computer System, 3%
Phone Calls, 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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Office and Administrative Industry
Admitting Clerk
Admitting Clerk vs Patient Care Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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