Patient registrar vs patient advocate

The differences between patient registrars and patient advocates 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 registrar and a patient advocate. Additionally, a patient advocate has an average salary of $36,325, 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 patient advocate are patients, customer service, and patient care.

Patient registrar vs patient advocate overview

	Patient Registrar	Patient Advocate
Yearly salary	$33,494	$36,325
Hourly rate	$16.10	$17.46
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	86,721	88,778
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	4	4

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 patient advocate do?

A patient advocate is responsible for supporting the patients with the medical processes in a healthcare institution, assisting them with insurance claims and medical billing disputes, verifying treatment procedures, and conducting referrals to medical professionals based on the patient's needs. Patient advocates facilitate a payment plan for the patients, discussing this plan to the financial department of the facility. They also address the patients' inquiries and concerns, as well as their complaints with hospital operations, immediately raising these issues to higher management.

Patient registrar vs patient advocate salary

Patient registrars and patient advocates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Patient Registrar	Patient Advocate
Average salary	$33,494	$36,325
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $42,000	Between $29,000 And $45,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Springfield, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Guidehouse	Cognizant
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient registrar and patient advocate education

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

	Patient Registrar	Patient Advocate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient registrar vs patient advocate demographics

Here are the differences between patient registrars' and patient advocates' demographics:

	Patient Registrar	Patient Advocate
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%	Male, 17.5% Female, 82.5%
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, 10.5% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 23.6% Asian, 6.8% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient registrar and patient advocate 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.

Patient advocate example responsibilities.

Manage the complaint process as required by CMS for the hospital.
Provide support for emergencies by managing inappropriate behaviors, aggressive patients, CPR and persons in crisis.
Train to welcome and register patients at ESI triage window.
Document patients medical problems using ICD 9 and CPT coding for patients diagnosis.
Pull any incoming referrals, triage them, and schedule patients with the appropriate doctor.
Collect and review patient information to determine patients' eligibility for Medicaid and charity program assistance.

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Patient registrar vs patient advocate skills

Common patient registrar skills

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

Common patient advocate skills

Patients, 28%
Customer Service, 11%
Patient Care, 5%
Medicaid, 4%
Financial Assistance, 4%
Patient Accounts, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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