Medical billing clerk vs insurance coordinator

The differences between medical billing clerks and insurance coordinators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a medical billing clerk, becoming an insurance coordinator takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a medical billing clerk has an average salary of $33,566, which is higher than the $32,788 average annual salary of an insurance coordinator.

The top three skills for a medical billing clerk include patients, medical billing and healthcare. The most important skills for an insurance coordinator are patients, customer service, and insurance verification.

Medical billing clerk vs insurance coordinator overview

	Medical Billing Clerk	Insurance Coordinator
Yearly salary	$33,566	$32,788
Hourly rate	$16.14	$15.76
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	164,870	108,509
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 30%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
Average age	46	44
Years of experience	2	4

What does a medical billing clerk do?

A medical billing clerk is primarily in charge of processing payments and creating billing arrangements in clinics and hospitals. Among their responsibilities include gathering and verifying patient identification, handling insurance information, coding, updating databases, and maintaining records. It is also their responsibility to assist patients by filling out forms, answering their inquiries, and referring them to other services. Moreover, a medical billing clerk must monitor patient accounts and follow-up on delinquent patient accounts, coordinating with collection agencies as needed.

What does an insurance coordinator do?

An insurance coordinator is responsible for evaluating and validating insurance information to verify claims and process the necessary claims resolutions for parties. Insurance coordinators submit claims statements timely to the insurance officers for review, coordinate with the clients for inquiries and updates, and reach out to medical institutions for accurate filing of payments. An insurance coordinator must have excellent communication and analytical skills to assess reports, resolve claims discrepancies, and escalate high-level complaints to the officers for immediate action.

Medical billing clerk vs insurance coordinator salary

Medical billing clerks and insurance coordinators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Billing Clerk	Insurance Coordinator
Average salary	$33,566	$32,788
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $40,000	Between $25,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	San Leandro, CA	Oakland, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	New Hampshire
Best paying company	iCare	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Health Care	Pharmaceutical

Differences between medical billing clerk and insurance coordinator education

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

	Medical Billing Clerk	Insurance Coordinator
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 30%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	-

Medical billing clerk vs insurance coordinator demographics

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

	Medical Billing Clerk	Insurance Coordinator
Average age	46	44
Gender ratio	Male, 11.3% Female, 88.7%	Male, 9.9% Female, 90.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 21.9% Asian, 6.8% White, 55.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	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%
LGBT Percentage	7%	11%

Differences between medical billing clerk and insurance coordinator duties and responsibilities

Medical billing clerk example responsibilities.

Accept and process healthcare claims and confidential medical records; verify patient eligibility and manage the Medicare and Medicaid billing process.
Interact with patients as part of the quality assurance process (follow-up, EHR confirmation, billing confirmation).
Reconcile insurance and patient payments while researching and resolving incorrect payments, EOB rejections, and assort issues with outstanding accounts.
Utilize medical terminology and follow HIPAA guidelines.
Bill Magellan through Nextgen system.
Double checked CMS-1500 form before posting it out to the insurance companies.

Insurance coordinator example responsibilities.

Verify patient dental insurance coverage and limitations with major private and business dental insurance providers as well as Medicaid and Medicare.
File to record patient demographics in numerous EMR systems and paper charts if applicable.
Prepare providers and staff for ICD-10 transition.
Post and reconcile all daily insurance, patient payments and transactions within the EMR system.
Experience in registration in healthcare, business office and physician billing, with reimbursement and collections.
Process all Medicare claims, explaining HMO changes to patients in detail and accurately documenting all benefits.

Medical billing clerk vs insurance coordinator skills

Common medical billing clerk skills

Patients, 18%
Medical Billing, 10%
Healthcare, 7%
Data Entry, 7%
Customer Service, 6%
Medicaid, 5%

Common insurance coordinator skills

Patients, 26%
Customer Service, 11%
Insurance Verification, 7%
Insurance Eligibility, 4%
Medicaid, 3%
Medical Terminology, 3%

Medical Billing Clerk vs. similar jobs

Medical Billing Clerk related careers

Medical Billing Clerk related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Office and Administrative Industry
Medical Billing Clerk
Medical Billing Clerk vs Insurance Coordinator

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse office and administrative jobs