Patient access representative vs patient care specialist

The differences between patient access representatives and patient care specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a patient access representative and a patient care specialist. Additionally, a patient care specialist has an average salary of $34,157, which is higher than the $33,603 average annual salary of a patient access representative.

The top three skills for a patient access representative include patients, customer service and medical terminology. The most important skills for a patient care specialist are patients, patient care, and data entry.

Patient access representative vs patient care specialist overview

	Patient Access Representative	Patient Care Specialist
Yearly salary	$33,603	$34,157
Hourly rate	$16.16	$16.42
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	151,077	146,861
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	4	4

What does a patient access representative do?

A Patient Access Representative is the first point of contact of a patient in a hospital facility. Among the duties include the checking-in and out of a patient, gathering a patient's information for the Doctors and Nurses to use, communicates with the patient's family or caregivers, and processes insurance billing. Most of the time, A Patient Access Representative encounters the critically ill or injured which is why one must possess great communication skills and compassion.

What does a patient care specialist do?

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.

Patient access representative vs patient care specialist salary

Patient access representatives and patient care specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Patient Access Representative	Patient Care Specialist
Average salary	$33,603	$34,157
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $41,000	Between $20,000 And $55,000
Highest paying City	Springfield, MA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Massachusetts
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	KPG
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient access representative and patient care specialist education

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

	Patient Access Representative	Patient Care Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient access representative vs patient care specialist demographics

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

	Patient Access Representative	Patient Care Specialist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 14.5% Female, 85.5%	Male, 20.3% Female, 79.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 6.5% White, 55.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.1% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient access representative and patient care specialist duties and responsibilities

Patient access representative example responsibilities.

Use EMR software to manage patient records and files; reinforce and uphold patient confidentiality as required by HIPPA and clinic.
Conduct intensive screening of all Medicare, Medicaid and manage care patients for provider service eligibility.
Educate eligible applicants about Medicaid manage care and how to access benefits in a manage care environment.
Run internal reports to ensure ICD 9 and CPT procedure codes are accurate for billing for Medicare and Medicaid patients.
Deliver quality customer service and compassion while obtaining demographic and financial data from patients seeking emergency medical services.
Operate front desk check-in, preparation of charts, receive payments and balance books at the end of the day.

Patient care specialist example responsibilities.

Use EMR software to manage patient records and files; reinforce and uphold patient confidentiality as required by HIPAA and clinic.
Utilize software applications to document call interactions using medical terminology and responsible for initially engaging patients by explaining the services.
Verify CPT codes along with diagnosis code for guarantee payment for surgeries.
Process daily fee tickets and correctly enter office visit ICD 9 and CPT codes into the system for billing.
Adhere to HIPPA confidentiality guidelines.
Track Medicaid eligibility of clients.

Patient access representative vs patient care specialist skills

Common patient access representative skills

Patients, 20%
Customer Service, 13%
Medical Terminology, 9%
Patient Care, 5%
Patient Registration, 5%
Insurance Verification, 4%

Common patient care specialist skills

Patients, 33%
Patient Care, 17%
Data Entry, 5%
Medical Terminology, 4%
CPT, 2%
CPR, 2%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Patient Access Representative
Patient Access Representative vs Patient Care Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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