Patient advocate vs patient service specialist

The differences between patient advocates and patient service 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 advocate and a patient service specialist. Additionally, a patient advocate has an average salary of $36,325, which is higher than the $33,563 average annual salary of a patient service specialist.

The top three skills for a patient advocate include patients, customer service and patient care. The most important skills for a patient service specialist are patients, patient service, and physical therapy.

Patient advocate vs patient service specialist overview

	Patient Advocate	Patient Service Specialist
Yearly salary	$36,325	$33,563
Hourly rate	$17.46	$16.14
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	88,778	105,915
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
Average age	40	40
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 a patient service specialist do?

A patient service representative serves as a patient's primary point of contact in a hospital or clinic, ensuring accuracy and customer satisfaction. They are mainly responsible for gathering a patient's information and medical history, verifying insurance forms, managing accounts, and processing payments, arranging appointments, and even performing reminder calls and correspondence. There are also instances when a patient service representative must discuss situations to patients and their families, and even alert the doctors when a patient displays strange or unlikely behavior.

Patient advocate vs patient service specialist salary

Patient advocates and patient service specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Patient Advocate	Patient Service Specialist
Average salary	$36,325	$33,563
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $45,000	Between $27,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	Springfield, MA	Springfield, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Cognizant	Virginia Eye Institute
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient advocate and patient service specialist education

There are a few differences between a patient advocate and a patient service specialist in terms of educational background:

	Patient Advocate	Patient Service Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient advocate vs patient service specialist demographics

Here are the differences between patient advocates' and patient service specialists' demographics:

	Patient Advocate	Patient Service Specialist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 17.5% Female, 82.5%	Male, 12.5% Female, 87.5%
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, 12.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.9% Asian, 6.4% White, 54.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient advocate and patient service specialist 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.

Patient service specialist example responsibilities.

Benefit coverage eligibility or concerns for patients will be complete timely to achieve identify outcomes or solutions.
Greet patients and visitors with warmth, compassion, and demonstrate commitment to exceptional service.
Provide customer service to patients via registration, co-pay and co-insurance payment collection, appointment scheduling and telephone service
Obtain patient demographic, billing, insurance, and other necessary intake information for patients seeking rehabilitation services.
Screen, triage, register and verify a high volume of client eligibility and demographic data.
Direct callers to appropriate personnel, and initiate a triage slip for response by medical personnel.

Patient advocate vs patient service specialist skills

Common patient advocate skills

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

Common patient service specialist skills

Patients, 20%
Patient Service, 9%
Physical Therapy, 8%
Rehabilitation, 8%
Patient Appointments, 8%
Front Desk, 7%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Patient Advocate
Patient Advocate vs Patient Service Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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