Medical collections specialist vs collections representative

The differences between medical collections specialists and collections representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a medical collections specialist and a collections representative. Additionally, a medical collections specialist has an average salary of $36,249, which is higher than the $34,015 average annual salary of a collections representative.

The top three skills for a medical collections specialist include patients, healthcare and medical collections. The most important skills for a collections representative are payment arrangements, customer service, and delinquent accounts.

Medical collections specialist vs collections representative overview

	Medical Collections Specialist	Collections Representative
Yearly salary	$36,249	$34,015
Hourly rate	$17.43	$16.35
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	83,342	85,275
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 28%	High School Diploma, 33%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	12	12

What does a medical collections specialist do?

Medical collections specialists are responsible for the collection of insurance claims. The responsibilities of this position include locating debtors, contacting debtors to address the overdue payments, keeping records of debts, collecting updated information on client accounts and payments, processing payments, and reviewing records to ensure they are accurate. They also conduct follow ups for insurance reimbursement, repossess claims, draft appeals, and resolve unpaid claims.

What does a collections representative do?

A Collections Representative's role is to collect payment for outstanding or overdue bills through phone calls, email, mail, or sometimes personal appointments. A Collections Representative is required to have a great deal of research and communication skills in order to reach out to people and explain how to settle their debts or even negotiate a payment term or plan. Collections Representatives must also make sure that these terms are honored and met, and create reports for the creditor regarding the delinquent accounts.

Medical collections specialist vs collections representative salary

Medical collections specialists and collections representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Collections Specialist	Collections Representative
Average salary	$36,249	$34,015
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $43,000	Between $26,000 And $42,000
Highest paying City	Tracy, CA	San Ramon, CA
Highest paying state	Connecticut	California
Best paying company	Pacific Medical	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Professional	Finance

Differences between medical collections specialist and collections representative education

There are a few differences between a medical collections specialist and a collections representative in terms of educational background:

	Medical Collections Specialist	Collections Representative
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 28%	High School Diploma, 33%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	-	-

Medical collections specialist vs collections representative demographics

Here are the differences between medical collections specialists' and collections representatives' demographics:

	Medical Collections Specialist	Collections Representative
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 19.5% Female, 80.5%	Male, 30.6% Female, 69.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.8% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 20.8% Asian, 3.7% White, 58.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 18.9% Asian, 3.4% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between medical collections specialist and collections representative duties and responsibilities

Medical collections specialist example responsibilities.

Manage accounts for healthcare clients, review detailed patient information for payment resolution while abiding HIPPA privacy and security regulations.
Job duties include collecting on HMO, PPO, Medicare, and HMO Medicaid.
Work directly with Medicare and HMO Medicaid plans, and statewide HMO/PPO/POS plans.
Reprocess denied medical claims using extensive appeal tactics or special appeals processing instructions for commercial and government carriers.
Adhere to all HIPAA guidelines as well as various policies and guidelines.
Provide itemized billing statements and screen HIPAA authorization forms for hundreds of legal firms.

Collections representative example responsibilities.

Protect A/R assets by managing a portfolio of accounts to maximize gainful sales and reduce debt losses.
Maintain effective communication and utilize negotiation skills with internal and external customers to effect collections while maintaining customer good will.
Submit all reconsideration and appeals if need.
Conduct periodic data cleaning of queues balances deny with deny appeals.
Resolve valid or authorize NSF charges due to decline credit cards or ACH transactions.
Collect and count inventories, reconcile purchases and scan UPC's and inputting price information.

Medical collections specialist vs collections representative skills

Common medical collections specialist skills

Patients, 19%
Healthcare, 14%
Medical Collections, 7%
Medicaid, 5%
Patient Accounts, 5%
Appeals, 5%

Common collections representative skills

Payment Arrangements, 14%
Customer Service, 13%
Delinquent Accounts, 9%
Past Due Accounts, 6%
Customer Accounts, 4%
Debt Repayment, 4%

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Medical Collections Specialist
Medical Collections Specialist vs Collections Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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