Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between clinical support specialists and patient care specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a clinical support specialist, becoming a patient care specialist takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a clinical support specialist has an average salary of $45,892, which is higher than the $34,157 average annual salary of a patient care specialist.
The top three skills for a clinical support specialist include patients, clinical support and home health. The most important skills for a patient care specialist are patients, patient care, and data entry.
| Clinical Support Specialist | Patient Care Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $45,892 | $34,157 |
| Hourly rate | $22.06 | $16.42 |
| Growth rate | 10% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 161,163 | 146,861 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Average age | 42 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
A clinical support specialist is in charge of assisting medical workers and clients in hospitals or similar facilities. Among their responsibilities include gathering patient information and medical histories, collecting payment and insurance details, helping patients fill out forms, answering calls and correspondence, and assisting staff as needed. A clinical support specialist may also participate in medical research and studies, providing clerical support to researchers and medical experts. Furthermore, it is essential to function while implementing the facility's safety policies and regulations.
A patient service or care specialist works at different medical facilities. Primary responsibilities include checking patients in and out, scheduling follow-up appointments as well as checking patient eligibility for services or programs. Patient service specialists should maintain a systematic referral log to correlate patient referrals to other specialists. Applicants for the job should have the basic computer knowledge to effectively manage data of patient's files, knowledge of medical terminologies, and possess good interpersonal and customer service skills.
Clinical support specialists and patient care specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Clinical Support Specialist | Patient Care Specialist | |
| Average salary | $45,892 | $34,157 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $71,000 | Between $20,000 And $55,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | California | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Boehringer Ingelheim | KPG |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a clinical support specialist and a patient care specialist in terms of educational background:
| Clinical Support Specialist | Patient Care Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Business |
| Most common college | Duke University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between clinical support specialists' and patient care specialists' demographics:
| Clinical Support Specialist | Patient Care Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 22.4% Female, 77.6% | Male, 20.3% Female, 79.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.1% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 7% |