Patient advocate vs insurance coordinator

The differences between patient advocates and insurance coordinators 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 advocate and an insurance coordinator. Additionally, a patient advocate has an average salary of $36,325, which is higher than the $32,788 average annual salary of an insurance coordinator.

The top three skills for a patient advocate include patients, customer service and patient care. The most important skills for an insurance coordinator are patients, customer service, and insurance verification.

Patient advocate vs insurance coordinator overview

	Patient Advocate	Insurance Coordinator
Yearly salary	$36,325	$32,788
Hourly rate	$17.46	$15.76
Growth rate	-4%	-3%
Number of jobs	88,778	108,509
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
Average age	40	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does a patient advocate do?

A patient advocate is responsible for supporting the patients with the medical processes in a healthcare institution, assisting them with insurance claims and medical billing disputes, verifying treatment procedures, and conducting referrals to medical professionals based on the patient's needs. Patient advocates facilitate a payment plan for the patients, discussing this plan to the financial department of the facility. They also address the patients' inquiries and concerns, as well as their complaints with hospital operations, immediately raising these issues to higher management.

What does an insurance coordinator do?

An insurance coordinator is responsible for evaluating and validating insurance information to verify claims and process the necessary claims resolutions for parties. Insurance coordinators submit claims statements timely to the insurance officers for review, coordinate with the clients for inquiries and updates, and reach out to medical institutions for accurate filing of payments. An insurance coordinator must have excellent communication and analytical skills to assess reports, resolve claims discrepancies, and escalate high-level complaints to the officers for immediate action.

Patient advocate vs insurance coordinator salary

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

	Patient Advocate	Insurance Coordinator
Average salary	$36,325	$32,788
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $45,000	Between $25,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Springfield, MA	Oakland, CA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	New Hampshire
Best paying company	Cognizant	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Health Care	Pharmaceutical

Differences between patient advocate and insurance coordinator education

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

	Patient Advocate	Insurance Coordinator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	-

Patient advocate vs insurance coordinator demographics

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

	Patient Advocate	Insurance Coordinator
Average age	40	44
Gender ratio	Male, 17.5% Female, 82.5%	Male, 9.9% Female, 90.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 23.6% Asian, 6.8% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	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	7%	11%

Differences between patient advocate and insurance coordinator duties and responsibilities

Patient advocate example responsibilities.

Manage the complaint process as required by CMS for the hospital.
Provide support for emergencies by managing inappropriate behaviors, aggressive patients, CPR and persons in crisis.
Train to welcome and register patients at ESI triage window.
Document patients medical problems using ICD 9 and CPT coding for patients diagnosis.
Pull any incoming referrals, triage them, and schedule patients with the appropriate doctor.
Collect and review patient information to determine patients' eligibility for Medicaid and charity program assistance.

Insurance coordinator example responsibilities.

Verify patient dental insurance coverage and limitations with major private and business dental insurance providers as well as Medicaid and Medicare.
File to record patient demographics in numerous EMR systems and paper charts if applicable.
Prepare providers and staff for ICD-10 transition.
Post and reconcile all daily insurance, patient payments and transactions within the EMR system.
Experience in registration in healthcare, business office and physician billing, with reimbursement and collections.
Process all Medicare claims, explaining HMO changes to patients in detail and accurately documenting all benefits.

Patient advocate vs insurance coordinator skills

Common patient advocate skills

Patients, 28%
Customer Service, 11%
Patient Care, 5%
Medicaid, 4%
Financial Assistance, 4%
Patient Accounts, 4%

Common insurance coordinator skills

Patients, 26%
Customer Service, 11%
Insurance Verification, 7%
Insurance Eligibility, 4%
Medicaid, 3%
Medical Terminology, 3%

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Patient Advocate
Patient Advocate vs Insurance Coordinator

Updated January 8, 2025

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