Patient coordinator vs claims coordinator

The differences between patient coordinators and claims coordinators 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 coordinator, becoming a claims coordinator takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a claims coordinator has an average salary of $38,620, which is higher than the $32,954 average annual salary of a patient coordinator.

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

Patient coordinator vs claims coordinator overview

	Patient Coordinator	Claims Coordinator
Yearly salary	$32,954	$38,620
Hourly rate	$15.84	$18.57
Growth rate	-4%	-6%
Number of jobs	97,878	27,332
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	40	44
Years of experience	4	6

What does a patient coordinator do?

A patient coordinator functions as the primary point of contact between health care professionals and patients in a medical facility. They mostly perform administrative tasks such as greeting visitors, answering calls, responding to inquiries, managing schedules, arranging appointments, processing payments, gathering information, and keeping records. Moreover, they assist in filling out forms, escorting patients to different rooms or offices, and setting treatment plans. Most importantly, they discuss and share necessary information with patients and families regarding medications, procedures, and proceeding care according to a physician's assessment.

What does a claims coordinator do?

Claims coordinators are professionals who are responsible for coordinating activities that are related to handling and processing insurance claims for an organization. These coordinators must serve as liaison officer between the organization, insurance provider, and policyholders to communicate the status and eligibility for coverage for all relevant claims. They need to ensure that billing requirements are met by reviewing insurance claims. Claims coordinators must also answer all the inquiries of their clients while making recommendations to resolve any claim issues.

Patient coordinator vs claims coordinator salary

Patient coordinators and claims coordinators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Patient Coordinator	Claims Coordinator
Average salary	$32,954	$38,620
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $41,000	Between $31,000 And $47,000
Highest paying City	Brockton, MA	Federal Way, WA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	New Jersey
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Xcel Energy
Best paying industry	Health Care	Finance

Differences between patient coordinator and claims coordinator education

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

	Patient Coordinator	Claims Coordinator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	-

Patient coordinator vs claims coordinator demographics

Here are the differences between patient coordinators' and claims coordinators' demographics:

	Patient Coordinator	Claims Coordinator
Average age	40	44
Gender ratio	Male, 11.2% Female, 88.8%	Male, 24.6% Female, 75.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 25.4% Asian, 6.2% White, 51.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 5.3% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	10%

Differences between patient coordinator and claims coordinator duties and responsibilities

Patient coordinator example responsibilities.

Comply with HIPAA regulations by discreetly and professionally handling all patients private medical information.
Gather personal plus insurance information and perform thorough insurance breakdowns for patients.
Communicate directly with patients to obtain initial patient information and respond to inquiries.
Process and update HIPAA relate paperwork and other require institutional forms as necessary.
Obtain all necessary documentation prior to surgery such as proof of identification, copy of insurance and require insurance referrals.
Respond in writing to all grievances in accordance with CMS and DNV guidelines.

Claims coordinator example responsibilities.

Investigate, evaluate, and manage call to complete coverage analysis confirming or denying coverage using Xactimate estimating software.
Process and adjust Medicare claims, provide feedback to providers on proper CPT, ICD-9 coding for billing purposes.
Serve as point of contact for all legal issues relate to HIPAA.
Streamline audit procedures of TPA and maintain extremely high production rate which help in keeping staffing requirements lower.
Review and audit claims -Using correct CPT and DX codes -Denial reports -correct billing error, resubmitted claims for proper payment
Communicate with company management, injure workers/customers, medical providers and TPA, as necessary, regarding claim relate matters.

Patient coordinator vs claims coordinator skills

Common patient coordinator skills

Patients, 30%
Customer Service, 11%
Patient Care, 6%
Patient Flow, 5%
Excellent Organizational, 4%
Check-In, 3%

Common claims coordinator skills

Customer Service, 23%
Patients, 9%
Data Entry, 8%
Phone Calls, 6%
Insurance Claims, 5%
Quality Standards, 4%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Patient Coordinator
Patient Coordinator vs Claims Coordinator

Updated January 8, 2025

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