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.
Medical scheduler responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real medical scheduler resumes:
- 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.
- Verify method of payment for service (Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance, private payee, etc . )
- Assist medical records with medicaid authorizations, TP1/TP2's, auditing, and pan authorizations and other duties as assigned.
- Schedule all appointments with other doctor offices and hospitals for port placements, MRI's, other cancer centers and etc.
- Provide general office/reception support with HIPPA considerations.
- Confirm patient identity and maintain patient confidentiality as per HIPAA guidelines.
- Perform pacemaker testing and maintain pacemaker telephonic EKG follow up clinic.
- Maintain confidentiality of patient's personal and financial information by utilizing HIPAA guidelines and regulations.
- Provide information regarding patient accounts to authorize callers while complying with HIPPA guidelines and regulations.
- Cross-Train as receptionist to greet incoming patients, have proper medical documentation complete, and oversee weekly visitations.
Medical scheduler skills and personality traits
We calculated that 29% of Medical Schedulers are proficient in Patients, Customer Service, and Medical Terminology. They’re also known for soft skills such as Organizational skills, Writing skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Medical Schedulers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 29%
Transcribed physician orders including scheduled labs, testing and screening/specimens and occasionally transported patients to various location of the hospital.
- Customer Service, 15%
Managed all incoming phone lines and provided directed customer service; coordinated approximately 1475 diagnostic procedures monthly.
- Medical Terminology, 6%
Performed secretarial duties utilizing knowledge of medical terminology and hospital clinic and laboratory procedures.
- EMR, 5%
Utilized my skills with using EMR for all scheduling and documentation of patient encounters.
- Data Entry, 3%
Maintained office services by organizing office operations and procedures; Prepared, compiled and sorted documents for data entry.
- Insurance Verification, 3%
Assess patient eligibility for insurance verification and reconcile patient's history with accounts receivable and verification of insurance policy numbers.
"patients," "customer service," and "medical terminology" are among the most common skills that medical schedulers use at work. You can find even more medical scheduler responsibilities below, including:
Organizational skills. The most essential soft skill for a medical scheduler to carry out their responsibilities is organizational skills. This skill is important for the role because "secretaries and administrative assistants keep files, folders, and schedules in order so that an office runs efficiently." Additionally, a medical scheduler resume shows how their duties depend on organizational skills: "demonstrated excellent people skills and patient care as well as strong analytical and organizational skills. "
Writing skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling medical scheduler duties is writing skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "secretaries and administrative assistants write memos and emails when communicating with managers, employees, and customers." According to a medical scheduler resume, here's how medical schedulers can utilize writing skills in their job responsibilities: "complete various administrative and clerical tasks such as answering phone calls, writing memos, and assisting other departments when necessary. "
Interpersonal skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of medical schedulers is interpersonal skills. This skill is critical to many everyday medical scheduler duties, as "secretaries and administrative assistants interact with clients, customers, or staff." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "required excellent interpersonal skills working with doctors and patients. "
The three companies that hire the most medical schedulers are:
- Robert Half13 medical schedulers jobs
- NaphCare11 medical schedulers jobs
- Atlantic Health4 medical schedulers jobs
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Compare different medical schedulers
Medical scheduler vs. Patient care representative
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.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between medical schedulers and patient care representative. For instance, medical scheduler responsibilities require skills such as "emr," "triage," "compassion," and "physician orders." Whereas a patient care representative is skilled in "cash management," "patient registration," "excellent interpersonal," and "rehabilitation." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Patient care representatives earn the highest salaries when working in the technology industry, with an average yearly salary of $36,400. On the other hand, medical schedulers are paid more in the health care industry with an average salary of $32,016.patient care representatives tend to reach similar levels of education than medical schedulers. In fact, patient care representatives are 1.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Medical scheduler 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.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real medical scheduler resumes. While medical scheduler responsibilities can utilize skills like "triage," "scheduling patient appointments," "office equipment," and "physician orders," patient representatives use skills like "check-in," "patient flow," "patient registration," and "patient appointments."
Patient representatives may earn a higher salary than medical schedulers, but patient representatives earn the most pay in the non profits industry with an average salary of $34,572. On the other hand, medical schedulers receive higher pay in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $32,016.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Patient representatives tend to reach similar levels of education than medical schedulers. In fact, they're 2.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Medical scheduler vs. Patient care specialist
A patient service or care specialist works at different medical facilities. Primary responsibilities include checking patients in and out, scheduling follow-up appointments as well as checking patient eligibility for services or programs. Patient service specialists should maintain a systematic referral log to correlate patient referrals to other specialists. Applicants for the job should have the basic computer knowledge to effectively manage data of patient's files, knowledge of medical terminologies, and possess good interpersonal and customer service skills.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, medical schedulers are more likely to have skills like "strong customer service," "scheduling patient appointments," "office equipment," and "physician orders." But a patient care specialist is more likely to have skills like "cpr," "departmental policies," "vital signs," and "quality care."
Patient care specialists make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $32,483. On the other hand, medical schedulers are paid the highest salary in the health care industry, with average annual pay of $32,016.Most patient care specialists achieve a similar degree level compared to medical schedulers. For example, they're 2.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Medical scheduler 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.
Types of medical scheduler
Updated January 8, 2025
