Cancer registrar vs patient registrar

The differences between cancer registrars and patient registrars can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a cancer registrar, becoming a patient registrar takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a cancer registrar has an average salary of $49,393, which is higher than the $33,494 average annual salary of a patient registrar.

The top three skills for a cancer registrar include patients, CTR and medical terminology. The most important skills for a patient registrar are patients, customer service, and medical terminology.

Cancer registrar vs patient registrar overview

	Cancer Registrar	Patient Registrar
Yearly salary	$49,393	$33,494
Hourly rate	$23.75	$16.10
Growth rate	11%	-4%
Number of jobs	11,722	86,721
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
Average age	45	40
Years of experience	12	4

What does a cancer registrar do?

Cancer registrars collect and report data related to cancer. They gather information like the history, treatment used, diagnosis, and current status of cancer patients. The data collected will be used by cancer treatment facilities, healthcare workers, researchers, and several others to improve the knowledge that every health care department have and to increase the chances of survival of cancer patients. Some of the basic skills that a cancer registrar should have are analytical skills, detail orientation, and critical thinking skills to make sure that all data gathered are documented and stored in a safe place.

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.

Cancer registrar vs patient registrar salary

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

	Cancer Registrar	Patient Registrar
Average salary	$49,393	$33,494
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $72,000	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 cancer registrar and patient registrar education

There are a few differences between a cancer registrar and a patient registrar in terms of educational background:

	Cancer Registrar	Patient Registrar
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Pennsylvania

Cancer registrar vs patient registrar demographics

Here are the differences between cancer registrars' and patient registrars' demographics:

	Cancer Registrar	Patient Registrar
Average age	45	40
Gender ratio	Male, 7.8% Female, 92.2%	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.5% Asian, 8.7% White, 58.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%	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 cancer registrar and patient registrar duties and responsibilities

Cancer registrar example responsibilities.

Process release of information requests according to HIPAA regulations and manage valuables safe for entire facility.
Assign TNM and AJCC staging codes to newly diagnose cancer patents.
Provide coordination of cancer committee require by ACOS to meet accreditation standards.
Work for DHMC for this time period helping DHMC get up to date w cancer abstracts and the NH state cancer registry
Obtain patient insurance information and forward to business department for approval of out-patient surgery.
Train new employees and registrars.

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.

Cancer registrar vs patient registrar skills

Common cancer registrar skills

Patients, 20%
CTR, 11%
Medical Terminology, 10%
Abstracts, 8%
Data Collection, 6%
COC, 5%

Common patient registrar skills

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

Cancer Registrar vs. similar jobs

Cancer Registrar related careers

Cancer Registrar related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Cancer Registrar
Cancer Registrar vs Patient Registrar

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse healthcare practitioner and technical jobs