Patient registrar vs medical scheduler

The differences between patient registrars and medical schedulers 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 scheduler takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a patient registrar has an average salary of $33,494, which is higher than the $32,201 average annual salary of a medical scheduler.

The top three skills for a patient registrar include patients, customer service and medical terminology. The most important skills for a medical scheduler are patients, customer service, and medical terminology.

Patient registrar vs medical scheduler overview

	Patient Registrar	Medical Scheduler
Yearly salary	$33,494	$32,201
Hourly rate	$16.10	$15.48
Growth rate	-4%	-8%
Number of jobs	86,721	67,831
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Associate Degree, 30%
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 scheduler do?

A medical scheduler typically works with patients to coordinate appointment dates and times with health care professionals. Medical schedulers often work in hospitals, outpatient care centers, and other medical practices. They perform other duties aside from managing patients' schedules that includes providing patients the information they need about the hospital and its policies, providing patient support, and handling and managing questions from patients. Medical schedulers also act as a link between patients, clinical staff, and referral sources.

Patient registrar vs medical scheduler salary

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

	Patient Registrar	Medical Scheduler
Average salary	$33,494	$32,201
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $42,000	Between $26,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Washington
Best paying company	Guidehouse	Beacon Hill Staffing Group
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient registrar and medical scheduler education

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

	Patient Registrar	Medical Scheduler
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Associate Degree, 30%
Most common major	Business	Health Care Administration
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	-

Patient registrar vs medical scheduler demographics

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

	Patient Registrar	Medical Scheduler
Average age	40	49
Gender ratio	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%	Male, 8.0% Female, 92.0%
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 scheduler 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 scheduler example responsibilities.

Manage patient pre-op responsibilities, and generate all necessary paperwork.
Schedule patients for any testing that is necessary including MRI's, EMG's and Doppler's.
Transcribe physician orders including schedule labs, testing and screening/specimens and occasionally transport patients to various location of the hospital.
Prepare class for transition techniques to transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10.
Perform basic medical assistant duties such as triage, vitals, administer IM injections.
Answer multiple phone lines simultaneously, schedule patient appointments, and interact with physicians and triage patient calls.

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Patient registrar vs medical scheduler skills

Common patient registrar skills

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

Common medical scheduler skills

Patients, 29%
Customer Service, 15%
Medical Terminology, 6%
EMR, 5%
Data Entry, 3%
Insurance Verification, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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