What does a collections specialist do?
As their name entails, collections specialists collect payments for the outstanding accounts receivables. Collections specialists list the names of those who were unable to pay their overdue bills based on their delinquency severity. They locate the customers through loan documents, background checks, credit bureau information, and other databases or paperwork. These specialists are expected to be excellent in their negotiation and communication skills. They should also be trustworthy, reliable, and act professionally to be considered as good specialists.
Collections specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real collections specialist resumes:
- Manage university A/R processes and enforce tuition payment policy.
- Manage accounts for healthcare clients, review detailed patient information for payment resolution while abiding HIPPA privacy and security regulations.
- Review denied Medicare and Maine Medicaid insurance claims for accuracy.
- Analyze hospital insurance claims of individual patients for errors and contact major insurance carriers for claims dispute resolution.
- Analyze accounts for patients ineligible for private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid and indicating inability to pay balance.
- Possess effective persuasion and negotiation skills, excellent interpersonal and communications skills with the ability to deliver quality customer service.
- Process of HMO, MCR/MCD claims , 3rd party billing.
- Apply ICD9 and CPT code information to collect on claims.
- Interpret EOB information utilizing CPT and ICD9 coding experience to ensure that correct claims processing are applied.
- Verify patient healthcare coverage via phone and internet for accurate billing and claims processing, updating patient demographics as needed.
- Establish payment arrangements for customer's outstanding balance and process debits and credits via credit card or ACH, as required.
- Coordinate company-wide A/R recovery and collection processes.
- Collect data and summarize providers prior Medicare background/experience.
- Adhere to strict standards regarding FDCPA requirements of confidentiality and security.
- Contact patients by phone or mail letters regarding additional insurance information and patient responsibility balances of claims.
Collections specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 23% of Collections Specialists are proficient in Customer Service, Patients, and Customer Accounts. They’re also known for soft skills such as Listening skills, Negotiating skills, and Speaking skills.
We break down the percentage of Collections Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 23%
Maintained close customer contact during periods of delinquency and provided friendly yet persuasive customer service while following up on payment arrangements.
- Patients, 8%
Analyzed hospital insurance claims of individual patients for errors and contacted major insurance carriers for claims dispute resolution.
- Customer Accounts, 6%
Initiated a method to revitalize customer accounts to improve discrepancies while maintaining a strong, continuous business relationship with problematic accounts.
- Payment Arrangements, 5%
Leverage persuasive skills and relationships to communicate accurate account balance info and assist customers with payment arrangements to bring accounts current.
- Delinquent Accounts, 4%
Provided direct, daily supervision to collection team in assuring proper collection efforts of delinquent accounts receivables to gain final resolution.
- Phone Calls, 4%
Pursued payment/collection of outstanding invoices * Processed payments/reinstatement of insurance * Processed/mailed high volume daily cancellation invoices * Answered inbound telephone calls
Most collections specialists use their skills in "customer service," "patients," and "customer accounts" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential collections specialist responsibilities here:
Listening skills. The most essential soft skill for a collections specialist to carry out their responsibilities is listening skills. This skill is important for the role because "collectors must pay attention to what debtors say when trying to negotiate a repayment plan." Additionally, a collections specialist resume shows how their duties depend on listening skills: "communicated with credit card customers via telephone to negotiate payment options on outstanding accounts. "
Negotiating skills. Another essential skill to perform collections specialist duties is negotiating skills. Collections specialists responsibilities require that "the main aspects of a collector’s job are reconciling the differences between two parties (the debtor and the creditor) and offering a solution that is acceptable to both parties." Collections specialists also use negotiating skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "resolved complex customer issues while negotiating immediate or extended payment arrangements. "
Speaking skills. This is an important skill for collections specialists to perform their duties. For an example of how collections specialist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "collectors must be able to speak to debtors to explain their options and ensure that they fully understand what is being said." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a collections specialist: "addressed patient concerns and responded to questions regarding insurance company "explanation of benefits" [eob]. ".
The three companies that hire the most collections specialists are:
- Robert Half80 collections specialists jobs
- HealthTrust44 collections specialists jobs
- JPMorgan Chase & Co.29 collections specialists jobs
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Compare different collections specialists
Collections specialist vs. Medical collector
A medical collector deals with collection of bills related to medical services. They handle healthcare-related debt, collect patient insurance information, and develop repayment plans to accommodate debtors that are unable to settle their accounts. Qualifications for this position include knowledge of accounting and training in insurance, business or finance.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between collections specialists and medical collector. For instance, collections specialist responsibilities require skills such as "credit card payments," "patient accounts," "customer payments," and "outbound collection calls." Whereas a medical collector is skilled in "healthcare," "medical collections," "appeals," and "cpt." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Medical collectors really shine in the finance industry with an average salary of $37,357. Comparatively, collections specialists tend to make the most money in the finance industry with an average salary of $36,657.On average, medical collectors reach similar levels of education than collections specialists. Medical collectors are 0.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Collections specialist vs. Customs collector
Debt collectors are also known as collection agencies and are responsible for recovering past due debts. Most of them are hired by companies to collect debt either for a fee or a percentage of the total amount recovered. Also, some debt collectors buy delinquent debts at a discount and seek to collect the debt's full amount. They have many strategies to collect debts, including calling debtor's phones, sending letters, and even visiting them at their home. However, if debtors fail to pay their due, debt collectors can either update the debtor's credit report or sue them over debt. Once sued and debtors ignore court hearings and lose by default, results could either be garnishment on debtor'debtors' wages or levies on their bank.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that collections specialist responsibilities requires skills like "customer service," "patients," "phone calls," and "data entry." But a customs collector might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "billing inquiries," "customer care," "credit card accounts," and "computer system."
Customs collectors may earn a lower salary than collections specialists, but customs collectors earn the most pay in the automotive industry with an average salary of $35,327. On the other hand, collections specialists receive higher pay in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $36,657.customs collectors earn similar levels of education than collections specialists in general. They're 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Collections specialist vs. Debt collector
Accounts receivable specialists are members of the organization's finance or accounting department. They are responsible for managing the collection of payments for the company. They prepare official receipts and coordinate with account payable specialists from other companies with pending payables. They ensure that clients pay on time, and they also follow up on payments when necessary. They are responsible for checking whether the clients have already paid in full. Accounts receivable specialists are in charge of updating accounting records as well to ensure that client records are up to date.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, collections specialists are more likely to have skills like "patients," "phone calls," "data entry," and "customer payments." But a debt collector is more likely to have skills like "debt collection," "computer system," "telephone calls," and "collection calls."
Debt collectors earn the best pay in the construction industry, where they command an average salary of $34,803. Collections specialists earn the highest pay from the finance industry, with an average salary of $36,657.debt collectors typically earn similar educational levels compared to collections specialists. Specifically, they're 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Collections specialist vs. Accounts receivable specialist
Types of collections specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
