Patient account coordinator vs insurance clerk

The differences between patient account coordinators and insurance clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a patient account coordinator, becoming an insurance clerk takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a patient account coordinator has an average salary of $35,695, which is higher than the $33,089 average annual salary of an insurance clerk.

The top three skills for a patient account coordinator include patients, patient accounts and credit balances. The most important skills for an insurance clerk are patients, insurance verification, and data entry.

Patient account coordinator vs insurance clerk overview

	Patient Account Coordinator	Insurance Clerk
Yearly salary	$35,695	$33,089
Hourly rate	$17.16	$15.91
Growth rate	-8%	-3%
Number of jobs	148,258	147,755
Job satisfaction	-	2
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 34%	High School Diploma, 29%
Average age	46	44
Years of experience	12	4

What does a patient account coordinator do?

A patient account coordinator ensures that the medical records of a patient are consolidated and updated with necessary and accurate information for ease of access by medical staff and other departments within a medical facility. You will capture and record patient information for easy access, handle patient billing and related inquiries, and help patients fill out the required paperwork. Patient account coordinators schedule and follow up patient appointments, set up and manage patient accounts and information therein, and coordinate and follow up on insurance benefits.

What does an insurance clerk do?

An insurance clerk usually works to process insurance, reinstatement, changes, or cancellations for a company or an individual account. They are responsible for monitoring, processing, and organizing different insurance claims for a client. They usually work closely with the company's insurance agent to provide necessary information to process the clients' application. This career requires a broad knowledge of local and state insurance policies, good attention to detail, excellent communication skills, customer service skills, and administrative skills.

Patient account coordinator vs insurance clerk salary

Patient account coordinators and insurance clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Patient Account Coordinator	Insurance Clerk
Average salary	$35,695	$33,089
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $41,000	Between $27,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	-	Henderson, NV
Highest paying state	-	New Hampshire
Best paying company	-	Lenoir Memorial Hospital
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between patient account coordinator and insurance clerk education

There are a few differences between a patient account coordinator and an insurance clerk in terms of educational background:

	Patient Account Coordinator	Insurance Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 34%	High School Diploma, 29%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Patient account coordinator vs insurance clerk demographics

Here are the differences between patient account coordinators' and insurance clerks' demographics:

	Patient Account Coordinator	Insurance Clerk
Average age	46	44
Gender ratio	Male, 12.0% Female, 88.0%	Male, 8.3% Female, 91.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.7% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.1% Asian, 4.0% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 13.8% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 3.9% White, 63.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	11%

Differences between patient account coordinator and insurance clerk duties and responsibilities

Patient account coordinator example responsibilities.

Accept and process healthcare claims and confidential medical records; verify patient eligibility and manage the Medicare and Medicaid billing process.
Perform appropriate follow-up for missing data elements such as CPT, HCPCS, ICD-9 codes and modifiers.
Be able to work with the current CPT, ICD-9 books, CPC certification are required for this position
Provide quality customer service, maintain confidentiality, problem solving, and accuracy while complying with all HIPAA regulations.
Provide adequate documentation to insurance carriers for appeals and reconsideration of soft and technical denials.
See that records are store securely and handle in compliance with HIPAA privacy and security regulations

Insurance clerk example responsibilities.

Manage front office check-in, insurance verification and certifications from doctors.
Establish and implement procedures for completion of patient super bills with proper diagnostic coding utilizing ICD-9 and CPT code manuals.
Maintain patient medical records insuring diagnosis codes (ICD-9) are itemized correctly and name and address of insurance carriers record.
Schedule and obtain authorization for outpatient procedures for patients via private insurance, worker's compensation, and Medicare/ Medicaid.
Complete several ICD-10 training courses.
Perform medical coding with most accurate and descriptive HCPCS code.

Patient account coordinator vs insurance clerk skills

Common patient account coordinator skills

Patients, 20%
Patient Accounts, 10%
Credit Balances, 9%
Appeals, 7%
Medical Billing, 4%
Data Entry, 3%

Common insurance clerk skills

Patients, 25%
Insurance Verification, 7%
Data Entry, 7%
Customer Service, 6%
Insurance Coverage, 5%
Computer System, 3%

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Patient Account Coordinator
Patient Account Coordinator vs Insurance Clerk

Updated January 8, 2025

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