Dental receptionist vs medical scheduler

The differences between dental receptionists and medical schedulers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a dental receptionist and a medical scheduler. Additionally, a dental receptionist has an average salary of $34,359, which is higher than the $32,201 average annual salary of a medical scheduler.

The top three skills for a dental receptionist include patients, customer service and phone calls. The most important skills for a medical scheduler are patients, customer service, and medical terminology.

Dental receptionist vs medical scheduler overview

	Dental Receptionist	Medical Scheduler
Yearly salary	$34,359	$32,201
Hourly rate	$16.52	$15.48
Growth rate	-	-8%
Number of jobs	66,076	67,831
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 32%	Associate Degree, 30%
Average age	42	49
Years of experience	2	2

What does a dental receptionist do?

A dental receptionist is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to support dental office operations and ensure that the patients receive the highest quality care services. Dental receptionists manage and schedule the patients' appointments, determine the availability of the dentist, process dental reports and service payments, and ensure the adequacy of dental inventories. They also organize the database system by updating patients' information, sending referrals to medical specialists, pulling-up patient charts, and responding to the patients' dental inquiries and concerns.

What does a medical scheduler do?

A medical scheduler typically works with patients to coordinate appointment dates and times with health care professionals. Medical schedulers often work in hospitals, outpatient care centers, and other medical practices. They perform other duties aside from managing patients' schedules that includes providing patients the information they need about the hospital and its policies, providing patient support, and handling and managing questions from patients. Medical schedulers also act as a link between patients, clinical staff, and referral sources.

Dental receptionist vs medical scheduler salary

Dental receptionists and medical schedulers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Dental Receptionist	Medical Scheduler
Average salary	$34,359	$32,201
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $42,000	Between $26,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	Bellingham, WA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Washington
Best paying company	University of Southern California	Beacon Hill Staffing Group
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between dental receptionist and medical scheduler education

There are a few differences between a dental receptionist and a medical scheduler in terms of educational background:

	Dental Receptionist	Medical Scheduler
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 32%	Associate Degree, 30%
Most common major	Business	Health Care Administration
Most common college	-	-

Dental receptionist vs medical scheduler demographics

Here are the differences between dental receptionists' and medical schedulers' demographics:

	Dental Receptionist	Medical Scheduler
Average age	42	49
Gender ratio	Male, 4.9% Female, 95.1%	Male, 8.0% Female, 92.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 27.0% Asian, 5.5% White, 52.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 3.8% White, 70.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	6%	9%

Differences between dental receptionist and medical scheduler duties and responsibilities

Dental receptionist example responsibilities.

Manage an adjoining veterinary supply shop that sell medications, animal food and pet equipment.
Perform administrative and receptionist duties by managing patient records while staying in compliance with HIPAA and JCAHO.
Manage Eaglesoft system thereby maximizing and balancing the calendar of appointments to drive practice revenue while maintaining optimal practice productivity.
Assist office management and staff with administrative projects/responsibilities such as managing time-sensitive projects, filing, copying, and collating materials.
Register new patients according to office protocol using EagleSoft.
Experience in PPO and some HMO insurances.

Medical scheduler example responsibilities.

Manage patient pre-op responsibilities, and generate all necessary paperwork.
Schedule patients for any testing that is necessary including MRI's, EMG's and Doppler's.
Transcribe physician orders including schedule labs, testing and screening/specimens and occasionally transport patients to various location of the hospital.
Prepare class for transition techniques to transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10.
Perform basic medical assistant duties such as triage, vitals, administer IM injections.
Answer multiple phone lines simultaneously, schedule patient appointments, and interact with physicians and triage patient calls.

Dental receptionist vs medical scheduler skills

Common dental receptionist skills

Patients, 35%
Customer Service, 17%
Phone Calls, 10%
Patient Accounts, 8%
Front Desk, 3%
HMO, 3%

Common medical scheduler skills

Patients, 29%
Customer Service, 15%
Medical Terminology, 6%
EMR, 5%
Data Entry, 3%
Insurance Verification, 3%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Dental Receptionist
Dental Receptionist vs Medical Scheduler

Updated January 8, 2025

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