Patient care coordinator vs patient liaison

The differences between patient care coordinators and patient liaisons 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 liaison. Additionally, a patient care coordinator has an average salary of $34,884, which is higher than the $32,314 average annual salary of a patient liaison.

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

Patient care coordinator vs patient liaison overview

	Patient Care Coordinator	Patient Liaison
Yearly salary	$34,884	$32,314
Hourly rate	$16.77	$15.54
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	139,431	84,302
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
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 liaison do?

Patient Liaisons are intermediaries addressing concerns on behalf of patients and families working in tandem with the hospital administrator. They are responsible for gathering data regarding patient care issues and inquiries, assessing patient well-being, suggesting improvements, and interpreting hospital service, policies, and procedures to patients and families. Patient Liaisons also work to educate health care professionals in humanizing the hospital experience for patients. They work in a hospital, clinic, nursing home, or programs related to public health.

Patient care coordinator vs patient liaison salary

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

	Patient Care Coordinator	Patient Liaison
Average salary	$34,884	$32,314
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $52,000	Between $24,000 And $42,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Washington	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Homestead Hospice	Brigham and Women's Hospital
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient care coordinator and patient liaison education

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

	Patient Care Coordinator	Patient Liaison
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Most common major	Nursing	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient care coordinator vs patient liaison demographics

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

	Patient Care Coordinator	Patient Liaison
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 11.7% Female, 88.3%	Male, 16.2% Female, 83.8%
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, 11.5% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 6.9% White, 55.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

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

Provide support for emergencies by managing inappropriate behaviors, aggressive patients, CPR and persons in crisis.
Conduct all insurance verification and obtain authorization to treat sub-acute rehabilitation patients.
Attend Michigan state eligibility hearings, when necessary to assist and gain Medicaid disability benefits for patients.
Interview patients of hospital facility to obtain necessary documentation to secure Medicaid coverage as payment of inpatient hospital charges.
Set up payment plan, verify personal information per HIPAA guidelines.
Respect and maintain HIPPA and patient confidentiality and dignity of patients at all times.

Patient care coordinator vs patient liaison 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 liaison skills

Patients, 37%
Customer Service, 16%
Medical Terminology, 4%
Health System, 3%
HIPAA, 3%
Surgery, 2%

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

Updated January 8, 2025

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