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The differences between insurance specialists and patient service specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an insurance specialist and a patient service specialist. Additionally, an insurance specialist has an average salary of $34,281, which is higher than the $33,563 average annual salary of a patient service specialist.
The top three skills for an insurance specialist include patients, customer service and insurance coverage. The most important skills for a patient service specialist are patients, patient service, and physical therapy.
| Insurance Specialist | Patient Service Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $34,281 | $33,563 |
| Hourly rate | $16.48 | $16.14 |
| Growth rate | -3% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 98,595 | 105,915 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 36% |
| Average age | 44 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An insurance specialist is an individual responsible for interpreting insurance plans and providing risk management advice to clients and wealth managers. Insurance specialists must have a full understanding of risk management to craft a comprehensive solution that integrates well with the client's portfolio. They need to manage their clients' accounts and should maintain contact with clients after the application process. Insurance specialists must ensure that government insurance programs comply with federal laws, regulations, and contracts within the healthcare industry.
A patient service representative serves as a patient's primary point of contact in a hospital or clinic, ensuring accuracy and customer satisfaction. They are mainly responsible for gathering a patient's information and medical history, verifying insurance forms, managing accounts, and processing payments, arranging appointments, and even performing reminder calls and correspondence. There are also instances when a patient service representative must discuss situations to patients and their families, and even alert the doctors when a patient displays strange or unlikely behavior.
Insurance specialists and patient service specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Insurance Specialist | Patient Service Specialist | |
| Average salary | $34,281 | $33,563 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $42,000 | Between $27,000 And $40,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Springfield, MA |
| Highest paying state | New Hampshire | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Deloitte | Virginia Eye Institute |
| Best paying industry | Government | Health Care |
There are a few differences between an insurance specialist and a patient service specialist in terms of educational background:
| Insurance Specialist | Patient Service Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 36% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between insurance specialists' and patient service specialists' demographics:
| Insurance Specialist | Patient Service Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 22.1% Female, 77.9% | Male, 12.5% Female, 87.5% |
| 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, 12.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.9% Asian, 6.4% White, 54.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 7% |