Insurance clerk vs medical clerk

The differences between insurance clerks and medical clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become an insurance clerk, becoming a medical clerk takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an insurance clerk has an average salary of $33,089, which is higher than the $32,439 average annual salary of a medical clerk.

The top three skills for an insurance clerk include patients, insurance verification and data entry. The most important skills for a medical clerk are patients, medical terminology, and data entry.

Insurance clerk vs medical clerk overview

	Insurance Clerk	Medical Clerk
Yearly salary	$33,089	$32,439
Hourly rate	$15.91	$15.60
Growth rate	-3%	-8%
Number of jobs	147,755	166,322
Job satisfaction	2	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 29%	Bachelor's Degree, 26%
Average age	44	49
Years of experience	4	2

What does an insurance clerk do?

An insurance clerk usually works to process insurance, reinstatement, changes, or cancellations for a company or an individual account. They are responsible for monitoring, processing, and organizing different insurance claims for a client. They usually work closely with the company's insurance agent to provide necessary information to process the clients' application. This career requires a broad knowledge of local and state insurance policies, good attention to detail, excellent communication skills, customer service skills, and administrative skills.

What does a medical clerk do?

A medical clerk works in the administrative area of a medical facility or hospital. The medical clerk collects all patient information and medical records. The clerk also does all the clinic or hospital paperwork and generates reports of all transactions that transpired in a day's work. The medical clerk also processes admission and discharge papers, medical charts, properly file and safeguard all patient records and secure them from unauthorized access. The medical clerk is expected to be highly organized, capable of handling pressure, and has good communication skills.

Insurance clerk vs medical clerk salary

Insurance clerks and medical clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Insurance Clerk	Medical Clerk
Average salary	$33,089	$32,439
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $39,000	Between $26,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	Henderson, NV	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Minnesota
Best paying company	Lenoir Memorial Hospital	Brinks Gilson
Best paying industry	Finance	Government

Differences between insurance clerk and medical clerk education

There are a few differences between an insurance clerk and a medical clerk in terms of educational background:

	Insurance Clerk	Medical Clerk
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 29%	Bachelor's Degree, 26%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Insurance clerk vs medical clerk demographics

Here are the differences between insurance clerks' and medical clerks' demographics:

	Insurance Clerk	Medical Clerk
Average age	44	49
Gender ratio	Male, 8.3% Female, 91.7%	Male, 15.5% Female, 84.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 13.8% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 3.9% White, 63.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	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	11%	9%

Differences between insurance clerk and medical clerk duties and responsibilities

Insurance clerk example responsibilities.

Manage front office check-in, insurance verification and certifications from doctors.
Establish and implement procedures for completion of patient super bills with proper diagnostic coding utilizing ICD-9 and CPT code manuals.
Maintain patient medical records insuring diagnosis codes (ICD-9) are itemized correctly and name and address of insurance carriers record.
Schedule and obtain authorization for outpatient procedures for patients via private insurance, worker's compensation, and Medicare/ Medicaid.
Complete several ICD-10 training courses.
Perform medical coding with most accurate and descriptive HCPCS code.

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Medical clerk example responsibilities.

Evaluate all EOB's to insure accurate payment is received and when necessary will file appeals to achieve optimal payments.
Follow HIPPA patient confidentiality guidelines making patients or facility have filled proper forms to release records.
File results of laboratory tests, x-rays, EKG's, etc., in patients records.
Respond and resolve patient inquiries with compassion and patience.
Prepare request for EKG tests, eye examinations, audio and dental records.
Enter deficiencies into MediTech program.

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Insurance clerk vs medical clerk skills

Common insurance clerk skills

Patients, 25%
Insurance Verification, 7%
Data Entry, 7%
Customer Service, 6%
Insurance Coverage, 5%
Computer System, 3%

Common medical clerk skills

Patients, 32%
Medical Terminology, 6%
Data Entry, 6%
Phone Calls, 5%
Patient Care, 4%
Telephone Calls, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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