Insurance clerk vs medical receptionist

The differences between insurance clerks and medical receptionists 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 receptionist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an insurance clerk has an average salary of $33,089, which is higher than the $31,960 average annual salary of a medical receptionist.

The top three skills for an insurance clerk include patients, insurance verification and data entry. The most important skills for a medical receptionist are patients, customer service, and check-in.

Insurance clerk vs medical receptionist overview

	Insurance Clerk	Medical Receptionist
Yearly salary	$33,089	$31,960
Hourly rate	$15.91	$15.37
Growth rate	-3%	-8%
Number of jobs	147,755	118,048
Job satisfaction	2	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 29%	Associate Degree, 28%
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 receptionist do?

Medical receptionists are responsible for manning the front desk at a medical facility such as a clinic or a hospital. They manage schedules and appointments in the clinic or hospital. They help patients to their respective appointments. They also assist doctors, nurses, and other medical practitioners by ensuring that the schedule for the day is being followed. They are also in charge of assisting visitors by directing them wherever they would need to go. Medical receptionists also answer inquiries by patients or visitors. Medical knowledge, great customer service skills, and a friendly attitude are needed.

Insurance clerk vs medical receptionist salary

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

	Insurance Clerk	Medical Receptionist
Average salary	$33,089	$31,960
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $39,000	Between $26,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	Henderson, NV	Portland, ME
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Maine
Best paying company	Lenoir Memorial Hospital	CENTER FOR SIGHT
Best paying industry	Finance	Health Care

Differences between insurance clerk and medical receptionist education

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

	Insurance Clerk	Medical Receptionist
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 29%	Associate Degree, 28%
Most common major	Business	Health Care Administration
Most common college	-	-

Insurance clerk vs medical receptionist demographics

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

	Insurance Clerk	Medical Receptionist
Average age	44	49
Gender ratio	Male, 8.3% Female, 91.7%	Male, 5.2% Female, 94.8%
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 receptionist 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.

Medical receptionist example responsibilities.

Conduct analysis to address long wait times which lead to faster triage, shorter wait times.
Evaluate all EOB's to insure accurate payment is received and when necessary will file appeals to achieve optimal payments.
Greet and check-in patients, including obtaining accurate patient demographic information, patient registration, and checking insurance eligibility.
Learned and operate chiropractic equipment (decompression; Leander) & x-rays; enabling Dr to have more time for patients.
Resolve concerns of terminally ill patients with compassion and professionalism.
Identify patients' specific scheduling requirements while demonstrating care and compassion via telephone.

Insurance clerk vs medical receptionist skills

Common insurance clerk skills

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

Common medical receptionist skills

Patients, 30%
Customer Service, 9%
Check-In, 6%
Medical Terminology, 6%
Patient Care, 4%
Front Desk, 4%

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Insurance Clerk vs Medical Receptionist

Updated January 8, 2025

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