Medical billing, receptionist vs office assistant

The differences between medical billings, receptionist and office assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a medical billing, receptionist and an office assistant. Additionally, a medical billing, receptionist has an average salary of $34,622, which is higher than the $31,517 average annual salary of an office assistant.

The top three skills for a medical billing, receptionist include patients, medical billing and data entry. The most important skills for an office assistant are data entry, patients, and customer service.

Medical billing, receptionist vs office assistant overview

	Medical Billing, Receptionist	Office Assistant
Yearly salary	$34,622	$31,517
Hourly rate	$16.65	$15.15
Growth rate	-3%	-5%
Number of jobs	115,714	103,293
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 26%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Average age	46	47
Years of experience	2	2

What does a medical billing, receptionist do?

A medical billing receptionist serves as the main point of contact in a hospital. Their responsibilities revolve around greeting patients and attending to their needs, gathering and maintaining records, and checking-in patients. They also have administrative support tasks such as answering calls and responding to inquiries, arranging appointments and schedules, producing reports, keeping documentation, and handling billing processes, including insurance. Moreover, a medical billing receptionist must be alert and proactive as the conditions in a hospital can be very unpredictable.

What does an office assistant do?

Office assistants perform various tasks to ensure that the business runs organized and efficient. An office assistant must possess excellent communication and multi-tasking skills to handle essential duties such as scheduling meetings, monitoring office supplies, storing documents and necessary paperwork, handling customer inquiries and appointments, coordinating in company events, and accomplishing other clerical tasks and administrative support. Office assistants are also required to communicate any observation that would possibly make an impact on the company's performance.

Medical billing, receptionist vs office assistant salary

Medical billings, receptionist and office assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Billing, Receptionist	Office Assistant
Average salary	$34,622	$31,517
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $41,000	Between $24,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Vermont
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Analysis Group
Best paying industry	Technology	Government

Differences between medical billing, receptionist and office assistant education

There are a few differences between a medical billing, receptionist and an office assistant in terms of educational background:

	Medical Billing, Receptionist	Office Assistant
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 26%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	Western Carolina University

Medical billing, receptionist vs office assistant demographics

Here are the differences between medical billings, receptionist' and office assistants' demographics:

	Medical Billing, Receptionist	Office Assistant
Average age	46	47
Gender ratio	Male, 9.5% Female, 90.5%	Male, 17.3% Female, 82.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 21.9% Asian, 6.8% White, 56.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.0% Asian, 8.3% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	7%	6%

Differences between medical billing, receptionist and office assistant duties and responsibilities

Medical billing, receptionist example responsibilities.

Accept and process healthcare claims and confidential medical records; verify patient eligibility and manage the Medicare and Medicaid billing process.
Revise CPT codes and ICD-10 codes before submitting to insurance for chiropractic services and durable medical equipment.
Review and research ICD-9 and CPT codes that are denied by payers, and contact physician offices to assist with correction.
Submit secondary insurance claims with primary insurance EOB.
Facilitate medical billing and coding by interfacing with insurance companies and patients to ensure proper billing procedures.
Discuss physicians' choice of E/M level when in question.

Office assistant example responsibilities.

Manage filing, photocopying, collating, and faxing public and seal case documents.
Manage CI s SharePoint pages and serve as CI s subject matter expert on SharePoint working groups.
Manage operational FedEx relationship through order fulfillment, shipment tracking, and communication with parties involve in shipment transaction.
Compile payroll records, detect and reconcile discrepancies, accurately report outcomes using QuickBooks.
Maintain office services by organizing office operations and procedures, preparing payroll, controlling correspondences, and designing filing systems.
File client paperwork upholding HIPAA standards.

Medical billing, receptionist vs office assistant skills

Common medical billing, receptionist skills

Patients, 21%
Medical Billing, 7%
Data Entry, 5%
Customer Service, 5%
CPT, 4%
Medicaid, 4%

Common office assistant skills

Data Entry, 16%
Patients, 14%
Customer Service, 9%
Telephone Calls, 7%
Scheduling Appointments, 6%
Front Desk, 6%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Medical Billing, Receptionist
Medical Billing, Receptionist vs Office Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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