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What does an Intake Specialist do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read
Quoted Expert
Yan Ciupak Ph.D.
What does an Intake Specialist do

Intake coordinators manage the registration of clients or patients for medical services in a health care facility. They talk to patients and their families, determine their needs, and ask for patients' medical history and their mental and physical state. It is part of their job to obtain the insurance information of the patients. The necessary skills to become an intake coordinator include good writing and reading skills, good communication, and attention to detail.

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Intake specialist responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real intake specialist resumes:

  • Manage assignments of paying medical bills limit in depth that include organizing and researching regulations as pertain to veterans eligibility.
  • Provide information to potential patients and referral sources regarding inpatient and outpatient programs offer and intake process.
  • Verify Medicare eligibility, provide patients with Medicare guideline information as related to home health care and their coverage.
  • Review U.S. DHS immigration compliance of participants.
  • Peg claimants claim and establish medial conditions to VA worksheets.
  • Respond to telephone and e-mail inquiries regarding CM/ECF and court relate procedures.
  • Initiate recovery of mistaken payments in accordance with the laws establish by CMS.
  • Conduct random home visits and authore violation, sanction or emergency reports to DHS.
  • Prepare correspondence and legal filings such as summonses, complaints and motions under the supervision of judges.
  • Maintain accurate documentation pertinent to patient progress and management of care, denials and appeals for CMS audits.
  • Prepare complaints, petitions, summonses, warrants, orders of commitment, and other courtroom-relate requirements with accuracy and efficiency.
  • Provide educational services to woman infants and children of WIC program, scheduling, promote and educate breastfeeding, late night clinics
  • Consult with homeowners regarding replacement of faulty windows.
  • Acquire knowledge of Medicare/Medicaid regulations, nursing and rehabilitation concepts.
  • Interact with different compotes via SQL statements verifying quality assurance.

Intake specialist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 16% of Intake Specialists are proficient in Patients, Customer Service, and Social Work. They’re also known for soft skills such as Time-management skills, Communication skills, and Compassion.

We break down the percentage of Intake Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 16%

    Verified Medicare eligibility, provided patients with Medicare guideline information as related to home health care and their coverage.

  • Customer Service, 14%

    Register patients, verify insurance and demographics, calculate and collect payments while maintaining exemplary customer service and ensuring patient privacy.

  • Social Work, 7%

    Develop relationships with clinic social workers and clinic managers to ensure positive communication and good working relationship.

  • Data Entry, 6%

    Performed clerical support functions including data entry of arrest documentation, court minutes and inmate release authority actions.

  • Phone Calls, 4%

    Answered phone calls of potential rental assistance clients, gathered information to determine eligibility of assistance and program.

  • Home Health, 3%

    Assisted Durable Medical Equipment and Home Health Care providers initiate requests for insurance authorizations for policy holders.

"patients," "customer service," and "social work" are among the most common skills that intake specialists use at work. You can find even more intake specialist responsibilities below, including:

Time-management skills. The most essential soft skill for an intake specialist to carry out their responsibilities is time-management skills. This skill is important for the role because "social and human service assistants often work with many clients." Additionally, an intake specialist resume shows how their duties depend on time-management skills: "completed and processed initial intake assessments within a short deadline of an 8hour time-frame. "

Communication skills. Many intake specialist duties rely on communication skills. "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help," so an intake specialist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways intake specialist responsibilities rely on communication skills: "act as the communication hub for all referral sources to our various home health and hospice agencies. "

Compassion. This is an important skill for intake specialists to perform their duties. For an example of how intake specialist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an intake specialist: "facilitate all incoming inquiries of prospective clients, loved ones and mental health/medical professionals with a sense of urgency and compassion. ".

Problem-solving skills. For certain intake specialist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of an intake specialist rely on this skill, as "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what intake specialists do: "assisted in ensuring that patients are properly charged by inputting all icd-9 and diagnosis codes in centricity practice solution database. "

Interpersonal skills. A commonly-found skill in intake specialist job descriptions, "interpersonal skills" is essential to what intake specialists do. Intake specialist responsibilities rely on this skill because "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." You can also see how intake specialist duties rely on interpersonal skills in this resume example: "recognized for the development of excellent interpersonal relationships providing exemplary customer service. "

Organizational skills. Lastly, "organizational skills" is an important element of what an intake specialist does. Intake specialist responsibilities require this skill because "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." This resume example highlights how intake specialist duties rely on this skill: "earned promotion to mental health caseworker due to advance case management skills and organizational skills. "

All intake specialist skills

The three companies that hire the most intake specialists are:

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Compare different intake specialists

Intake specialist vs. Intake coordinator

An intake coordinator is responsible for assisting patients with admissions to healthcare facilities. Intake coordinators help with the patients' registration process, record their health conditions and medical histories, verify their health insurance information, schedule consultation appointments, manage patients' charts, and respond to patients' inquiries and concerns. Intake coordinators perform administrative and clerical tasks as needed, such as entering patients' information on the database, filing necessary insurance documents, and creating reports. They must be detail-oriented, as well as have excellent communication and organization skills.

If we compare the average intake specialist annual salary with that of an intake coordinator, we find that intake coordinators typically earn a $2,075 higher salary than intake specialists make annually.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both intake specialist and intake coordinator positions are skilled in patients, customer service, and social work.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between intake specialists and intake coordinator. For instance, intake specialist responsibilities require skills such as "phone calls," "veterans," "powerpoint," and "medical history." Whereas a intake coordinator is skilled in "patient referrals," "care services," "triage," and "admission process." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Intake coordinators really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $37,268. Comparatively, intake specialists tend to make the most money in the government industry with an average salary of $41,839.intake coordinators tend to reach similar levels of education than intake specialists. In fact, intake coordinators are 1.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Intake specialist vs. Community support specialist

A community support specialist is responsible for supporting and providing care services for citizens with mental health conditions and other medical illnesses. Community support specialists coordinate with organizations and health institutions to generate resources that would help the patients in their daily activities, medications, and treatment plans. They also strategize community events and activities to observe the patients' social and personal behaviors and endorse them to a mental health professional for in-depth examination and counseling.

A career as a community support specialist brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of an intake specialist. In fact, community support specialists salary is $2,515 higher than the salary of intake specialists per year.A few skills overlap for intake specialists and community support specialists. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "social work," "crisis intervention," and "medicaid. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that intake specialist responsibilities requires skills like "patients," "customer service," "data entry," and "phone calls." But a community support specialist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "rehabilitation," "independent living," "developmental disabilities," and "direct services."

Community support specialists may earn a higher salary than intake specialists, but community support specialists earn the most pay in the non profits industry with an average salary of $37,451. On the other hand, intake specialists receive higher pay in the government industry, where they earn an average salary of $41,839.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Community support specialists tend to reach similar levels of education than intake specialists. In fact, they're 3.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Intake Specialists in the next 3-5 years?

Yan Ciupak Ph.D.Yan Ciupak Ph.D. LinkedIn Profile

Associate Professor, Northern Michigan University

As in many other fields, high-level computer skills are becoming more and more crucial to work effectively. Sociology students have the advantage of gaining high-level computer skills since sociology is so data- and research-driven. Sociologists use the internet, software, and other computer skills to assist data collection and analysis, communications, and problem-solving.

Intake specialist vs. Authorization specialist

An authorization specialist is responsible for reviewing insurance claims and determining the necessary settlement for the clients and involved parties. Authorization specialists file documents and gather the required information for further investigation and analysis. They coordinate with the insurance agency and the medical institution and ensure that the correct communications are being sent out for reference. An authorization specialist must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in writing authorization requests and resolve claims timely and efficiently.

On average scale, authorization specialists bring in lower salaries than intake specialists. In fact, they earn a $287 lower salary per year.By looking over several intake specialists and authorization specialists resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "patients," "customer service," and "data entry." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, intake specialists are more likely to have skills like "social work," "crisis intervention," "community resources," and "intake process." But a authorization specialist is more likely to have skills like "medical necessity," "clinical data," "medical services," and "patient service."

Authorization specialists earn the highest salary when working in the health care industry, where they receive an average salary of $35,974. Comparatively, intake specialists have the highest earning potential in the government industry, with an average salary of $41,839.When it comes to education, authorization specialists tend to earn lower degree levels compared to intake specialists. In fact, they're 6.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Intake specialist vs. Verification specialist

The verification specialist's primary role is to make and take calls to employers for the purpose of verifying information stated by an applicant on his/her /her job application. They manage calls inbound/outbound for education, employment, reference, and licensing verification purposes. They also maintain and keep records of all calls handled to ensure all verifications made are followed upon on time. They communicate effectively and proficiently to all parties involved in attaining verification information. Moreover, they do monthly review to quality check all data gathered for verifications.

Verification specialists tend to earn a lower pay than intake specialists by an average of $5,241 per year.While both intake specialists and verification specialists complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like patients, customer service, and data entry, the two careers vary in some skills.Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. An intake specialist uses "social work," "phone calls," "home health," and "crisis intervention." Verification specialists are more likely to have duties that require skills in "verification process," "health insurance," "background checks," and "authorization process. "In general, verification specialists earn the most working in the insurance industry, with an average salary of $36,827. The highest-paying industry for an intake specialist is the government industry.The average resume of verification specialists showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to intake specialists. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 6.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.5%.

Types of intake specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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