Patient care coordinator vs patient advocate

The differences between patient care coordinators and patient advocates 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 care coordinator and a patient advocate. Additionally, a patient advocate has an average salary of $36,325, 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 patient advocate are patients, customer service, and patient care.

Patient care coordinator vs patient advocate overview

	Patient Care Coordinator	Patient Advocate
Yearly salary	$34,884	$36,325
Hourly rate	$16.77	$17.46
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	139,431	88,778
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	4	4

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 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.

Patient care coordinator vs patient advocate salary

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

	Patient Care Coordinator	Patient Advocate
Average salary	$34,884	$36,325
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $52,000	Between $29,000 And $45,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Springfield, MA
Highest paying state	Washington	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Homestead Hospice	Cognizant
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient care coordinator and patient advocate education

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

	Patient Care Coordinator	Patient Advocate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Nursing	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient care coordinator vs patient advocate demographics

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

	Patient Care Coordinator	Patient Advocate
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 11.7% Female, 88.3%	Male, 17.5% Female, 82.5%
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, 10.5% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 23.6% Asian, 6.8% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient care coordinator and patient advocate 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.

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 care coordinator vs patient advocate 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 patient advocate skills

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

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Office and Administrative Industry
Patient Care Coordinator
Patient Care Coordinator vs Patient Advocate

Updated January 8, 2025

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