Patient care coordinator vs patient care representative

The differences between patient care coordinators and patient care representatives 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 care representative. Additionally, a patient care coordinator has an average salary of $34,884, which is higher than the $33,709 average annual salary of a patient care representative.

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

Patient care coordinator vs patient care representative overview

	Patient Care Coordinator	Patient Care Representative
Yearly salary	$34,884	$33,709
Hourly rate	$16.77	$16.21
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	139,431	133,317
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
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 care representative do?

PCRs (Patient Care Representatives) are given responsibilities like updating and verifying patient information after every visit, scheduling and reminding patients about appointments, and informing patients about delays and how long the estimated waiting times will be. They are also responsible for obtaining patients' personal information like their address, contact details, insurance information, and medical and surgical history. They must be able to communicate with patients, family members, and medical staff to give them all the information they need to treat the person looking for medical help.

Patient care coordinator vs patient care representative salary

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

	Patient Care Coordinator	Patient Care Representative
Average salary	$34,884	$33,709
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $52,000	Between $27,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Washington	Alaska
Best paying company	Homestead Hospice	Massachusetts General Hospital
Best paying industry	Health Care	Technology

Differences between patient care coordinator and patient care representative education

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

	Patient Care Coordinator	Patient Care Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Nursing	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient care coordinator vs patient care representative demographics

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

	Patient Care Coordinator	Patient Care Representative
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 11.7% Female, 88.3%	Male, 17.1% Female, 82.9%
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, 12.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 20.3% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient care coordinator and patient care representative 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 care representative example responsibilities.

Manage cash and co-payments accurately and discharge patients providing them with proper medical notes and information before exiting.
Verify insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, register patients, and code proper ICD-9 and CPT codes on encounters.
Utilize medical terminology, CPT, HCPC and ICD-9 and patient information into new authorizations.
Interview patients to gather information pertinent to their Medicaid application.
Screen, identify, and enter ICD-9 coding from treatment record forms.
Maintain patient confidentiality and follow HIPAA rules.

Patient care coordinator vs patient care representative 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 care representative skills

Patients, 25%
Patient Care, 13%
Home Health, 7%
Cash Management, 5%
Phone Calls, 4%
CPT, 3%

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

Updated January 8, 2025

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