Patient care coordinator vs medical assistant

The differences between patient care coordinators and medical assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a patient care coordinator, becoming a medical assistant takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a medical assistant has an average salary of $34,900, which is higher than the $34,884 average annual salary of a patient care coordinator.

The top three skills for a patient care coordinator include patients, customer service and home health. The most important skills for a medical assistant are patients, vital signs, and patient care.

Patient care coordinator vs medical assistant overview

	Patient Care Coordinator	Medical Assistant
Yearly salary	$34,884	$34,900
Hourly rate	$16.77	$16.78
Growth rate	-4%	16%
Number of jobs	139,431	189,915
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Associate Degree, 24%
Average age	40	37
Years of experience	4	12

What does a patient care coordinator do?

A patient care coordinator or care coordinator is a trained health professional who manages patients' health care, such as the elderly or disabled. Patient care coordinators educate patients about their health conditions and develop a plan to address their personal health care needs. To comply with health care laws and regulations, care coordinators must attend training and courses so that they are updated with the new developments in health care. They are also required to take up licensure examination and should have experience in care coordination or clinical practices.

What does a medical assistant do?

Medical assistants provide support to medical practitioners in both administrative and clerical tasks. They keep and update the patient's medical records, administer medicines under the supervision of a physician, assist during medical examinations, prepare medical samples for laboratory testing, manage the schedule of appointments, and assist the patients with their bills and in filling out needed forms, such as insurance-related documents. Medical assistants should have good communication skills and analytical skills, be organized, and be flexible. They should also have knowledge of how to operate some medical equipment such as x-ray machines.

Patient care coordinator vs medical assistant salary

Patient care coordinators and medical assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Patient Care Coordinator	Medical Assistant
Average salary	$34,884	$34,900
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $52,000	Between $27,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Vancouver, WA
Highest paying state	Washington	Alaska
Best paying company	Homestead Hospice	Columbia University in the City of New York
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient care coordinator and medical assistant education

There are a few differences between a patient care coordinator and a medical assistant in terms of educational background:

	Patient Care Coordinator	Medical Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Associate Degree, 24%
Most common major	Nursing	Medical Assisting Services
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	-

Patient care coordinator vs medical assistant demographics

Here are the differences between patient care coordinators' and medical assistants' demographics:

	Patient Care Coordinator	Medical Assistant
Average age	40	37
Gender ratio	Male, 11.7% Female, 88.3%	Male, 10.4% Female, 89.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 24.0% Asian, 6.3% White, 53.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 25.7% Asian, 8.8% White, 49.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	7%	6%

Differences between patient care coordinator and medical assistant duties and responsibilities

Patient care coordinator example responsibilities.

Communicate with insurance companies on a continuous basis to ensure hospital reimbursement and attain authorization for home and rehabilitation services.
Manage caseload by providing care coordination to individuals with a primary intellectual/developmental disability diagnosis all of whom receive community-base waiver services.
Check in, check out patients, and do EKG's.
Gain knowledge relate to bundle payments for orthopedic patients and the rules and regulations set forth by CMS.
Respond to telephone inquiries, providing quality service to customers, PSR's and insurance representatives inquiring about patient accounts.
Prepare patients prior to MRI exam, obtain safety check lists and assist with the daily operations of the MRI department.

Medical assistant example responsibilities.

Create and maintain confidential patient files; implement EHR systems to automate patient records management for the purposes of meaningful use.
Adhere to OSHA guidelines while performing instrument sterilization in addition to managing medical inventory.
Participate in emergency surgical intervention in obstetrics and gynecology patients.
Demonstrate proficiency in taking patient history and vitals, venipuncture, injections, urinalysis and preparing examination trays.
Attend to new out patients in gynecology clinic, make clinical diagnosis and follow up.
Provide RMA support to physician, and patients, including but not limit to vitals and patient history.

Patient care coordinator vs medical assistant skills

Common patient care coordinator skills

Patients, 32%
Customer Service, 13%
Home Health, 6%
Data Entry, 3%
Patient Appointments, 3%
Direct Patient Care, 3%

Common medical assistant skills

Patients, 20%
Vital Signs, 10%
Patient Care, 9%
Phlebotomy, 4%
CPR, 4%
EKG, 4%

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Patient Care Coordinator
Patient Care Coordinator vs Medical Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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