Office representative vs patient care representative

The differences between office representatives 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 an office representative, 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 $32,535 average annual salary of an office representative.

The top three skills for an office representative include patients, customer service and phone calls. The most important skills for a patient care representative are patients, patient care, and home health.

Office representative vs patient care representative overview

	Office Representative	Patient Care Representative
Yearly salary	$32,535	$33,709
Hourly rate	$15.64	$16.21
Growth rate	-5%	-4%
Number of jobs	149,852	133,317
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age	47	40
Years of experience	2	4

What does an office representative do?

Office Representatives are administrative professionals assigned to do various admin work in the office. They are in charge of managing communication lines, correspondences, and packages. They are often assigned to sort documents, update records, and file papers in the proper cabinets. Office representatives are considered front desk officers as well. They respond to inquiries by guests, direct guests to their meeting areas, and receive mail. They may also be assigned to manage meeting rooms and update appointment calendars. They should have good communication skills and should be service-oriented.

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.

Office representative vs patient care representative salary

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

	Office Representative	Patient Care Representative
Average salary	$32,535	$33,709
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $45,000	Between $27,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	New York	Alaska
Best paying company	Citi	Massachusetts General Hospital
Best paying industry	Agriculture	Technology

Differences between office representative and patient care representative education

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

	Office Representative	Patient Care Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	University of Pennsylvania

Office representative vs patient care representative demographics

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

	Office Representative	Patient Care Representative
Average age	47	40
Gender ratio	Male, 26.6% Female, 73.4%	Male, 17.1% Female, 82.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 53.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%	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	6%	7%

Differences between office representative and patient care representative duties and responsibilities

Office representative example responsibilities.

Manage the medical front office and coordinate business operations with physicians and legal staff for a busy MRI facility.
Manage correspondence and documentation for OSHA compliance and hold some accounts payable responsibilities by coding invoices for processing and payment.
Manage operational FedEx relationship through order fulfillment, shipment tracking, and communication with parties involve in shipment transaction.
Reconcile any EOB, insurance payment or discount errors.
Perform physician coding abstracting medical records with ICD-10, and CPT.
Post payments and enter charges utilizing appropriate ICD9 and CPT codes.

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.

Office representative vs patient care representative skills

Common office representative skills

Patients, 20%
Customer Service, 13%
Phone Calls, 8%
Patient Appointments, 7%
EMR, 5%
Excellent Interpersonal, 5%

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
Office Representative
Office Representative vs Patient Care Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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