Medical collections specialist vs medical billing clerk

The differences between medical collections specialists and medical billing clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a medical collections specialist, becoming a medical billing clerk takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a medical collections specialist has an average salary of $36,249, which is higher than the $33,566 average annual salary of a medical billing clerk.

The top three skills for a medical collections specialist include patients, healthcare and medical collections. The most important skills for a medical billing clerk are patients, medical billing, and healthcare.

Medical collections specialist vs medical billing clerk overview

	Medical Collections Specialist	Medical Billing Clerk
Yearly salary	$36,249	$33,566
Hourly rate	$17.43	$16.14
Growth rate	-8%	-3%
Number of jobs	83,342	164,870
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 28%	Associate Degree, 30%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	12	2

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 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.

Medical collections specialist vs medical billing clerk salary

Medical collections specialists and medical billing clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Collections Specialist	Medical Billing Clerk
Average salary	$36,249	$33,566
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $43,000	Between $27,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	Tracy, CA	San Leandro, CA
Highest paying state	Connecticut	Washington
Best paying company	Pacific Medical	iCare
Best paying industry	Professional	Health Care

Differences between medical collections specialist and medical billing clerk education

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

	Medical Collections Specialist	Medical Billing Clerk
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 28%	Associate Degree, 30%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Health Care Administration
Most common college	-	Stanford University

Medical collections specialist vs medical billing clerk demographics

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

	Medical Collections Specialist	Medical Billing Clerk
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 19.5% Female, 80.5%	Male, 11.3% Female, 88.7%
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, 10.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 21.9% Asian, 6.8% White, 55.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	8%	7%

Differences between medical collections specialist and medical billing clerk 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.

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.

Medical collections specialist vs medical billing clerk skills

Common medical collections specialist skills

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

Common medical billing clerk skills

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

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Medical Collections Specialist
Medical Collections Specialist vs Medical Billing Clerk

Updated January 8, 2025

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