Patient registrar vs patient care representative

The differences between patient registrars and patient care representatives 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 care representative. Additionally, a patient care representative has an average salary of $33,709, 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 care representative are patients, patient care, and home health.

Patient registrar vs patient care representative overview

	Patient Registrar	Patient Care Representative
Yearly salary	$33,494	$33,709
Hourly rate	$16.10	$16.21
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	86,721	133,317
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
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 care representative do?

PCRs (Patient Care Representatives) are given responsibilities like updating and verifying patient information after every visit, scheduling and reminding patients about appointments, and informing patients about delays and how long the estimated waiting times will be. They are also responsible for obtaining patients' personal information like their address, contact details, insurance information, and medical and surgical history. They must be able to communicate with patients, family members, and medical staff to give them all the information they need to treat the person looking for medical help.

Patient registrar vs patient care representative salary

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

	Patient Registrar	Patient Care Representative
Average salary	$33,494	$33,709
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $42,000	Between $27,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Alaska
Best paying company	Guidehouse	Massachusetts General Hospital
Best paying industry	Health Care	Technology

Differences between patient registrar and patient care representative education

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

	Patient Registrar	Patient Care Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient registrar vs patient care representative demographics

Here are the differences between patient registrars' and patient care representatives' demographics:

	Patient Registrar	Patient Care Representative
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%	Male, 17.1% Female, 82.9%
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, 12.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 20.3% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient registrar and patient care representative 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 care representative example responsibilities.

Manage cash and co-payments accurately and discharge patients providing them with proper medical notes and information before exiting.
Verify insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, register patients, and code proper ICD-9 and CPT codes on encounters.
Utilize medical terminology, CPT, HCPC and ICD-9 and patient information into new authorizations.
Interview patients to gather information pertinent to their Medicaid application.
Screen, identify, and enter ICD-9 coding from treatment record forms.
Maintain patient confidentiality and follow HIPAA rules.

Patient registrar vs patient care representative skills

Common patient registrar skills

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

Common patient care representative skills

Patients, 25%
Patient Care, 13%
Home Health, 7%
Cash Management, 5%
Phone Calls, 4%
CPT, 3%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Patient Registrar
Patient Registrar vs Patient Care Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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