Patient care coordinator vs patient care specialist

The differences between patient care coordinators and patient care 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 care coordinator and a patient care specialist. Additionally, a patient care coordinator has an average salary of $34,884, which is higher than the $34,157 average annual salary of a patient care specialist.

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

Patient care coordinator vs patient care specialist overview

	Patient Care Coordinator	Patient Care Specialist
Yearly salary	$34,884	$34,157
Hourly rate	$16.77	$16.42
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	139,431	146,861
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
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 specialist do?

A patient service or care specialist works at different medical facilities. Primary responsibilities include checking patients in and out, scheduling follow-up appointments as well as checking patient eligibility for services or programs. Patient service specialists should maintain a systematic referral log to correlate patient referrals to other specialists. Applicants for the job should have the basic computer knowledge to effectively manage data of patient's files, knowledge of medical terminologies, and possess good interpersonal and customer service skills.

Patient care coordinator vs patient care specialist salary

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

	Patient Care Coordinator	Patient Care Specialist
Average salary	$34,884	$34,157
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $52,000	Between $20,000 And $55,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Washington	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Homestead Hospice	KPG
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient care coordinator and patient care specialist education

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

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

Patient care coordinator vs patient care specialist demographics

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

	Patient Care Coordinator	Patient Care Specialist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 11.7% Female, 88.3%	Male, 20.3% Female, 79.7%
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, 11.7% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.1% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

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

Use EMR software to manage patient records and files; reinforce and uphold patient confidentiality as required by HIPAA and clinic.
Utilize software applications to document call interactions using medical terminology and responsible for initially engaging patients by explaining the services.
Verify CPT codes along with diagnosis code for guarantee payment for surgeries.
Process daily fee tickets and correctly enter office visit ICD 9 and CPT codes into the system for billing.
Adhere to HIPPA confidentiality guidelines.
Track Medicaid eligibility of clients.

Patient care coordinator vs patient care specialist 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 specialist skills

Patients, 33%
Patient Care, 17%
Data Entry, 5%
Medical Terminology, 4%
CPT, 2%
CPR, 2%

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

Updated January 8, 2025

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