Medical collections specialist vs medical clerk

The differences between medical collections specialists and medical 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 clerk takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a medical collections specialist has an average salary of $36,249, which is higher than the $32,439 average annual salary of a medical clerk.

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

Medical collections specialist vs medical clerk overview

	Medical Collections Specialist	Medical Clerk
Yearly salary	$36,249	$32,439
Hourly rate	$17.43	$15.60
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	83,342	166,322
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 28%	Bachelor's Degree, 26%
Average age	46	49
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 clerk do?

A medical clerk works in the administrative area of a medical facility or hospital. The medical clerk collects all patient information and medical records. The clerk also does all the clinic or hospital paperwork and generates reports of all transactions that transpired in a day's work. The medical clerk also processes admission and discharge papers, medical charts, properly file and safeguard all patient records and secure them from unauthorized access. The medical clerk is expected to be highly organized, capable of handling pressure, and has good communication skills.

Medical collections specialist vs medical clerk salary

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

	Medical Collections Specialist	Medical Clerk
Average salary	$36,249	$32,439
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $43,000	Between $26,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	Tracy, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Connecticut	Minnesota
Best paying company	Pacific Medical	Brinks Gilson
Best paying industry	Professional	Government

Differences between medical collections specialist and medical clerk education

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

	Medical Collections Specialist	Medical Clerk
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 28%	Bachelor's Degree, 26%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	-	-

Medical collections specialist vs medical clerk demographics

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

	Medical Collections Specialist	Medical Clerk
Average age	46	49
Gender ratio	Male, 19.5% Female, 80.5%	Male, 15.5% Female, 84.5%
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, 9.6% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 3.8% White, 70.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	8%	9%

Differences between medical collections specialist and medical 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 clerk example responsibilities.

Evaluate all EOB's to insure accurate payment is received and when necessary will file appeals to achieve optimal payments.
Follow HIPPA patient confidentiality guidelines making patients or facility have filled proper forms to release records.
File results of laboratory tests, x-rays, EKG's, etc., in patients records.
Respond and resolve patient inquiries with compassion and patience.
Prepare request for EKG tests, eye examinations, audio and dental records.
Enter deficiencies into MediTech program.

Medical collections specialist vs medical clerk skills

Common medical collections specialist skills

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

Common medical clerk skills

Patients, 32%
Medical Terminology, 6%
Data Entry, 6%
Phone Calls, 5%
Patient Care, 4%
Telephone Calls, 3%

Medical Collections Specialist vs. similar jobs

Medical Collections Specialist related careers

Medical Collections Specialist related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Office and Administrative Industry
Medical Collections Specialist
Medical Collections Specialist vs Medical Clerk

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse office and administrative jobs