Patient registrar vs medical office administrator

The differences between patient registrars and medical office administrators 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 medical office administrator takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a medical office administrator has an average salary of $34,252, 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 medical office administrator are patients, patient care, and customer service.

Patient registrar vs medical office administrator overview

	Patient Registrar	Medical Office Administrator
Yearly salary	$33,494	$34,252
Hourly rate	$16.10	$16.47
Growth rate	-4%	-8%
Number of jobs	86,721	179,503
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 31%
Average age	40	49
Years of experience	4	2

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 medical office administrator do?

A medical office administrator is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties within a health care institution, supplying physicians and medical professionals with patients' information, and coordinating with insurance companies. Medical office administrators handle the information and data management system to ensure the accuracy of patients' details, medical history, and treatment plans. They also schedule doctor appointments and cancellations, as well as monitoring the inventory of medical supplies. A medical office administrator submits payment reports, respond to patients' inquiries and concerns, and process billing disputes.

Patient registrar vs medical office administrator salary

Patient registrars and medical office administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Patient Registrar	Medical Office Administrator
Average salary	$33,494	$34,252
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $42,000	Between $27,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Anchorage, AK
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Alaska
Best paying company	Guidehouse	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient registrar and medical office administrator education

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

	Patient Registrar	Medical Office Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 31%
Most common major	Business	Health Care Administration
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	-

Patient registrar vs medical office administrator demographics

Here are the differences between patient registrars' and medical office administrators' demographics:

	Patient Registrar	Medical Office Administrator
Average age	40	49
Gender ratio	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%	Male, 9.4% Female, 90.6%
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, 9.6% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 3.8% White, 70.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	7%	9%

Differences between patient registrar and medical office administrator 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.

Medical office administrator example responsibilities.

Re-Evaluat & improve policy manual, develop standards for HIPPA, OSHA, manage care, billing and medical compliance.
Facilitate client relationships and manage surgery schedules, financial consultations, follow up care and ongoing maintenance.
Used knowledge of medical procedures and customer service, record medical histories and schedule patients for hospitalization and other procedures.
Scan new information such as daily progress notes, physical exams, labs and diagnostic testing into EMR.
Advise and counsel patient regarding food, fluid, medicine intake and restrictions prior to surgery including drop regime.
Organize patient charts and loose reports, as well as paper work from daily operations for scanning into EMR system.

Patient registrar vs medical office administrator skills

Common patient registrar skills

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

Common medical office administrator skills

Patients, 21%
Patient Care, 10%
Customer Service, 8%
Insurance Verification, 5%
Phone Calls, 5%
Appointment Scheduling, 4%

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Patient Registrar
Patient Registrar vs Medical Office Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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