What does a medical receptionist do?
Medical receptionists are responsible for manning the front desk at a medical facility such as a clinic or a hospital. They manage schedules and appointments in the clinic or hospital. They help patients to their respective appointments. They also assist doctors, nurses, and other medical practitioners by ensuring that the schedule for the day is being followed. They are also in charge of assisting visitors by directing them wherever they would need to go. Medical receptionists also answer inquiries by patients or visitors. Medical knowledge, great customer service skills, and a friendly attitude are needed.
Medical receptionist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real medical receptionist resumes:
- Conduct analysis to address long wait times which lead to faster triage, shorter wait times.
- Evaluate all EOB's to insure accurate payment is received and when necessary will file appeals to achieve optimal payments.
- Greet and check-in patients, including obtaining accurate patient demographic information, patient registration, and checking insurance eligibility.
- Learned and operate chiropractic equipment (decompression; Leander) & x-rays; enabling Dr to have more time for patients.
- Resolve concerns of terminally ill patients with compassion and professionalism.
- Identify patients' specific scheduling requirements while demonstrating care and compassion via telephone.
- Perform responsibilities of maintaining and updating patients insurance and demographic information in the EHR.
- Register new patients and update existing patient demographics by collecting patient information including personal and financial information.
- Direct and escort patients to appropriate medical clinics including labor and delivery, radiology, laboratory and MRI.
- Experience with EMR and scanning charts.
- Confirm address and phone numbers are correct in the EMR.
- Machine then pulls patients by weight that the Dr. prescribes.
- use omni-doc to write all progress notes, immunization, etc.
- Process all same day surgery and labor/delivery admissions to and from the hospital.
- Type in MediSoft for patient charges and enter payments from patients and insurance companies.
Medical receptionist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 30% of Medical Receptionists are proficient in Patients, Customer Service, and Check-In. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Detail oriented, and Technical skills.
We break down the percentage of Medical Receptionists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 30%
Collected patient co-payments and recorded payment transactions; obtained third-party payer authorization for services provided and communicated outstanding balances to patients.
- Customer Service, 9%
Participated as an integral member of a medical team and dedication to delivering excellent customer service and strengthening the patient/clinician relationship.
- Check-In, 6%
Processed patient check-in and checkout paperwork for medical imaging procedures and responsible for various secretarial duties.
- Medical Terminology, 6%
Received certificates in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and medical terminology.
- Patient Care, 4%
Assist with ensuring excellent patient care by maintaining relationships through efficient greeting and positive demeanor.
- Front Desk, 4%
Manage a medical front desk in areas of manual and computerized scheduling and medical/insurance records management including major carriers and Medicaid.
Common skills that a medical receptionist uses to do their job include "patients," "customer service," and "check-in." You can find details on the most important medical receptionist responsibilities below.
Writing skills. For certain medical receptionist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "writing skills." The day-to-day duties of a medical receptionist rely on this skill, as "secretaries and administrative assistants write memos and emails when communicating with managers, employees, and customers." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what medical receptionists do: "key competencies and skills office administration excellent verbal and writing skills insurance authorization time management. "
Organizational skills. Lastly, "organizational skills" is an important element of what a medical receptionist does. Medical receptionist responsibilities require this skill because "secretaries and administrative assistants keep files, folders, and schedules in order so that an office runs efficiently." This resume example highlights how medical receptionist duties rely on this skill: "managed many tasks and multiple demands and always handled phone calls with excellent telephone manners and organizational skills required"
The three companies that hire the most medical receptionists are:
- Sea Mar Community Health Centers164 medical receptionists jobs
- Florida Medical Clinic89 medical receptionists jobs
- UnitedHealth Group75 medical receptionists jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable medical receptionist resume templates
Build a professional medical receptionist resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your medical receptionist resume.
Compare different medical receptionists
Medical receptionist vs. Patient service coordinator
Patient services coordinators act as a liaison between a healthcare organization and patients. Their primary job is to provide quality service to patients. Their duties and responsibilities include fielding telephone calls from patients, assessing patients' issues, and interacting with team members, medical personnel, and employees from other departments. Also, they are responsible for ensuring compliance with regulatory and hospital requirements and maintaining quality service. Patient services coordinators must also ensure to maintain their technical knowledge by participating in personal networks, attending educational workshops, and reviewing professional publications.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a medical receptionist are more likely to require skills like "insurance forms," "test results," "ehr," and "word processing." On the other hand, a job as a patient service coordinator requires skills like "patient service," "home health," "excellent organizational," and "cleanliness." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Patient service coordinators really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $35,469. Comparatively, medical receptionists tend to make the most money in the health care industry with an average salary of $32,483.The education levels that patient service coordinators earn slightly differ from medical receptionists. In particular, patient service coordinators are 2.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a medical receptionist. Additionally, they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Medical receptionist vs. Front office coordinator
A front office coordinator is responsible for assisting clients with their inquiries and concerns and directing them to the appropriate department and personnel to immediately address their needs. Front office coordinators schedule appointments, verify visitors' identities by checking their credentials for security purposes, processing service payments, updating customers' data and visitation log on the database, and escalating high-level complaints. A front office coordinator also performs administrative and clerical tasks as needed, requiring them to have excellent time-management and organizational skills.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, medical receptionist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "check-in," "medical terminology," "phone calls," and "insurance forms." Meanwhile, a front office coordinator has duties that require skills in areas such as "appointment scheduling," "patient appointments," "emr," and "physical therapy." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Front office coordinators may earn a higher salary than medical receptionists, but front office coordinators earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $32,333. On the other hand, medical receptionists receive higher pay in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $32,483.front office coordinators earn similar levels of education than medical receptionists in general. They're 1.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Medical receptionist vs. Patient coordinator
A patient coordinator functions as the primary point of contact between health care professionals and patients in a medical facility. They mostly perform administrative tasks such as greeting visitors, answering calls, responding to inquiries, managing schedules, arranging appointments, processing payments, gathering information, and keeping records. Moreover, they assist in filling out forms, escorting patients to different rooms or offices, and setting treatment plans. Most importantly, they discuss and share necessary information with patients and families regarding medications, procedures, and proceeding care according to a physician's assessment.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from medical receptionist resumes include skills like "insurance eligibility," "insurance forms," "patient insurance," and "provides administrative support," whereas a patient coordinator is more likely to list skills in "excellent organizational," "patient satisfaction," "pet," and "taking care. "
Patient coordinators make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $33,131. On the other hand, medical receptionists are paid the highest salary in the health care industry, with average annual pay of $32,483.When it comes to education, patient coordinators tend to earn similar degree levels compared to medical receptionists. In fact, they're 2.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Medical receptionist vs. Patient representative
A patient representative is responsible for assisting the patients with their health care needs by identifying their medical concerns, assessing their medical history, and referring them to the appropriate physicians or other medical professionals for immediate treatments and further examinations. Patient representatives verify the patients' insurance information, guiding them on filling out medical forms, processing payments for medical services, and updating them for the release of medical results. A patient representative must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially when responding to patient's inquiries and concerns timely and accurately, and performing additional administrative and clerical tasks as needed.
Types of medical receptionist
Updated January 8, 2025
