Admitting clerk vs patient registrar

The differences between admitting 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 admitting 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 $31,833 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 registrar are patients, customer service, and medical terminology.

Admitting clerk vs patient registrar overview

	Admitting Clerk	Patient Registrar
Yearly salary	$31,833	$33,494
Hourly rate	$15.30	$16.10
Growth rate	-	-4%
Number of jobs	106,698	86,721
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 29%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
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 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.

Admitting clerk vs patient registrar salary

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

	Admitting Clerk	Patient Registrar
Average salary	$31,833	$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 admitting clerk and patient registrar education

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

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

Admitting clerk vs patient registrar demographics

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

	Admitting Clerk	Patient Registrar
Average age	42	40
Gender ratio	Male, 9.3% Female, 90.7%	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%
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, 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	9%	7%

Differences between admitting clerk and patient registrar 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.

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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.

Admitting clerk vs patient registrar skills

Common admitting clerk skills

Patients, 40%
Customer Service, 10%
Medical Terminology, 5%
Data Entry, 5%
Computer System, 3%
Phone Calls, 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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