Patient registrar vs patient care specialist

The differences between patient registrars and patient care specialists 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 specialist. Additionally, a patient care specialist has an average salary of $34,157, 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 specialist are patients, patient care, and data entry.

Patient registrar vs patient care specialist overview

	Patient Registrar	Patient Care Specialist
Yearly salary	$33,494	$34,157
Hourly rate	$16.10	$16.42
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	86,721	146,861
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
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 specialist do?

A patient service or care specialist works at different medical facilities. Primary responsibilities include checking patients in and out, scheduling follow-up appointments as well as checking patient eligibility for services or programs. Patient service specialists should maintain a systematic referral log to correlate patient referrals to other specialists. Applicants for the job should have the basic computer knowledge to effectively manage data of patient's files, knowledge of medical terminologies, and possess good interpersonal and customer service skills.

Patient registrar vs patient care specialist salary

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

	Patient Registrar	Patient Care Specialist
Average salary	$33,494	$34,157
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $42,000	Between $20,000 And $55,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Guidehouse	KPG
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient registrar and patient care specialist education

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

	Patient Registrar	Patient Care Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient registrar vs patient care specialist demographics

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

	Patient Registrar	Patient Care Specialist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%	Male, 20.3% Female, 79.7%
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, 11.7% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.1% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

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

Use EMR software to manage patient records and files; reinforce and uphold patient confidentiality as required by HIPAA and clinic.
Utilize software applications to document call interactions using medical terminology and responsible for initially engaging patients by explaining the services.
Verify CPT codes along with diagnosis code for guarantee payment for surgeries.
Process daily fee tickets and correctly enter office visit ICD 9 and CPT codes into the system for billing.
Adhere to HIPPA confidentiality guidelines.
Track Medicaid eligibility of clients.

Patient registrar vs patient care specialist 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 specialist skills

Patients, 33%
Patient Care, 17%
Data Entry, 5%
Medical Terminology, 4%
CPT, 2%
CPR, 2%

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

Updated January 8, 2025

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