Patient registrar vs certified medical technician

The differences between patient registrars and certified medical technicians 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 registrar, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a certified medical technician has an average salary of $38,859, which is higher than the $33,494 average annual salary of a patient registrar.

The top three skills for a patient registrar include patients, customer service and medical terminology. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.

Patient registrar vs certified medical technician overview

	Patient Registrar	Certified Medical Technician
Yearly salary	$33,494	$38,859
Hourly rate	$16.10	$18.68
Growth rate	-4%	5%
Number of jobs	86,721	164,424
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Average age	40	44
Years of experience	4	12

What does a patient registrar do?

A patient registrar is responsible for receiving patients in a hospital or other health care institutions, verifying their information, and leading them to the appropriate facility for their health care needs. Patient registrars manage the hospital's database, updating patients' information, confirming insurance details, taking calls, responding to patients' inquiries and concerns, scheduling appointments, and performing related administrative and clerical tasks as needed. A patient registrar must have excellent communication and organizational skills to provide the best quality care services to the patients.

What does a certified medical technician do?

Certified Medical Technicians are specialists in medical diagnoses by performing laboratory testing and analysis for hospitals and physicians. Their duties include lab sanitization to prepare for testing and collection, recording medical samples for testing, specimen preparation, blood drawing for donation and testing, and assisting physicians with sample collection as well as equipment handling in surgical rooms. They must also understand how to use complex and sensitive testing equipment such as cell counters, analyzers, microscopes, and centrifuges.

Patient registrar vs certified medical technician salary

Patient registrars and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Patient Registrar	Certified Medical Technician
Average salary	$33,494	$38,859
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $42,000	Between $28,000 And $53,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Denton, TX
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Alaska
Best paying company	Guidehouse	Favorite Healthcare Staffing
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient registrar and certified medical technician education

There are a few differences between a patient registrar and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:

	Patient Registrar	Certified Medical Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Most common major	Business	Nursing
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Connecticut

Patient registrar vs certified medical technician demographics

Here are the differences between patient registrars' and certified medical technicians' demographics:

	Patient Registrar	Certified Medical Technician
Average age	40	44
Gender ratio	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%	Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 23.0% Asian, 6.4% White, 53.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 15.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 10.0% White, 53.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	7%	8%

Differences between patient registrar and certified medical technician duties and responsibilities

Patient registrar example responsibilities.

Process release of information requests according to HIPAA regulations and manage valuables safe for entire facility.
Specialize in high degree of compassion when communicating with patients providing information and insurance details.
Receive patients, record patient demographic information and verify insurance for emergency department, laboratory, and radiology
Register patients and ensure correctness of all demographic information in AS400, verify insurance on various websites and collect patient co-payments.
Update demographics, billing information, Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance during patient interviews to obtain pertinent registration information.
Enter confidential personal health information and financial information into IDX system with a high rate of accuracy and confidentiality.

Certified medical technician example responsibilities.

Maintain the cleanliness of storage areas, trays, centrifuges, refrigerators, freezers and work area.
Administer medications to patients according to their medication record as scheduled, as needed according to physician orders.
Perform laboratory test and procedures in areas including chemistry, hematology, urinalysis, coagulation, serology, and bacteriology.
Perform first aid and apply CPR when necessary.
Perform first aid or CPR during medical emergencies until paramedics arrive.
Assist the residents in their ADL needs and prepare their meals.

Patient registrar vs certified medical technician skills

Common patient registrar skills

Patients, 25%
Customer Service, 11%
Medical Terminology, 11%
Patient Registration, 4%
Patient Care, 4%
Insurance Verification, 3%

Common certified medical technician skills

Patients, 17%
Vital Signs, 12%
CPR, 8%
Administer Medications, 7%
Resident Care, 6%
HIPAA, 6%

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Patient Registrar
Patient Registrar vs Certified Medical Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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