Medical scheduler vs patient care representative

The differences between medical schedulers and patient care representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a medical scheduler, becoming a patient care representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a patient care representative has an average salary of $33,709, which is higher than the $32,201 average annual salary of a medical scheduler.

The top three skills for a medical scheduler include patients, customer service and medical terminology. The most important skills for a patient care representative are patients, patient care, and home health.

Medical scheduler vs patient care representative overview

	Medical Scheduler	Patient Care Representative
Yearly salary	$32,201	$33,709
Hourly rate	$15.48	$16.21
Growth rate	-8%	-4%
Number of jobs	67,831	133,317
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 30%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age	49	40
Years of experience	2	4

What does a medical scheduler do?

A medical scheduler typically works with patients to coordinate appointment dates and times with health care professionals. Medical schedulers often work in hospitals, outpatient care centers, and other medical practices. They perform other duties aside from managing patients' schedules that includes providing patients the information they need about the hospital and its policies, providing patient support, and handling and managing questions from patients. Medical schedulers also act as a link between patients, clinical staff, and referral sources.

What does a patient care representative do?

PCRs (Patient Care Representatives) are given responsibilities like updating and verifying patient information after every visit, scheduling and reminding patients about appointments, and informing patients about delays and how long the estimated waiting times will be. They are also responsible for obtaining patients' personal information like their address, contact details, insurance information, and medical and surgical history. They must be able to communicate with patients, family members, and medical staff to give them all the information they need to treat the person looking for medical help.

Medical scheduler vs patient care representative salary

Medical schedulers and patient care representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Scheduler	Patient Care Representative
Average salary	$32,201	$33,709
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $38,000	Between $27,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Washington	Alaska
Best paying company	Beacon Hill Staffing Group	Massachusetts General Hospital
Best paying industry	Health Care	Technology

Differences between medical scheduler and patient care representative education

There are a few differences between a medical scheduler and a patient care representative in terms of educational background:

	Medical Scheduler	Patient Care Representative
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 30%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	-	University of Pennsylvania

Medical scheduler vs patient care representative demographics

Here are the differences between medical schedulers' and patient care representatives' demographics:

	Medical Scheduler	Patient Care Representative
Average age	49	40
Gender ratio	Male, 8.0% Female, 92.0%	Male, 17.1% Female, 82.9%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 12.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 20.3% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	9%	7%

Differences between medical scheduler and patient care representative duties and responsibilities

Medical scheduler example responsibilities.

Manage patient pre-op responsibilities, and generate all necessary paperwork.
Schedule patients for any testing that is necessary including MRI's, EMG's and Doppler's.
Transcribe physician orders including schedule labs, testing and screening/specimens and occasionally transport patients to various location of the hospital.
Prepare class for transition techniques to transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10.
Perform basic medical assistant duties such as triage, vitals, administer IM injections.
Answer multiple phone lines simultaneously, schedule patient appointments, and interact with physicians and triage patient calls.

Patient care representative example responsibilities.

Manage cash and co-payments accurately and discharge patients providing them with proper medical notes and information before exiting.
Verify insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, register patients, and code proper ICD-9 and CPT codes on encounters.
Utilize medical terminology, CPT, HCPC and ICD-9 and patient information into new authorizations.
Interview patients to gather information pertinent to their Medicaid application.
Screen, identify, and enter ICD-9 coding from treatment record forms.
Maintain patient confidentiality and follow HIPAA rules.

Medical scheduler vs patient care representative skills

Common medical scheduler skills

Patients, 29%
Customer Service, 15%
Medical Terminology, 6%
EMR, 5%
Data Entry, 3%
Insurance Verification, 3%

Common patient care representative skills

Patients, 25%
Patient Care, 13%
Home Health, 7%
Cash Management, 5%
Phone Calls, 4%
CPT, 3%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Medical Scheduler
Medical Scheduler vs Patient Care Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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