Patient registrar vs patient service specialist

The differences between patient registrars and patient service 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 service specialist. Additionally, a patient service specialist has an average salary of $33,563, 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 service specialist are patients, patient service, and physical therapy.

Patient registrar vs patient service specialist overview

	Patient Registrar	Patient Service Specialist
Yearly salary	$33,494	$33,563
Hourly rate	$16.10	$16.14
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	86,721	105,915
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
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 service specialist do?

A patient service representative serves as a patient's primary point of contact in a hospital or clinic, ensuring accuracy and customer satisfaction. They are mainly responsible for gathering a patient's information and medical history, verifying insurance forms, managing accounts, and processing payments, arranging appointments, and even performing reminder calls and correspondence. There are also instances when a patient service representative must discuss situations to patients and their families, and even alert the doctors when a patient displays strange or unlikely behavior.

Patient registrar vs patient service specialist salary

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

	Patient Registrar	Patient Service Specialist
Average salary	$33,494	$33,563
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $42,000	Between $27,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Springfield, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Guidehouse	Virginia Eye Institute
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient registrar and patient service specialist education

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

	Patient Registrar	Patient Service Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient registrar vs patient service specialist demographics

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

	Patient Registrar	Patient Service Specialist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%	Male, 12.5% Female, 87.5%
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, 12.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.9% Asian, 6.4% White, 54.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

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

Benefit coverage eligibility or concerns for patients will be complete timely to achieve identify outcomes or solutions.
Greet patients and visitors with warmth, compassion, and demonstrate commitment to exceptional service.
Provide customer service to patients via registration, co-pay and co-insurance payment collection, appointment scheduling and telephone service
Obtain patient demographic, billing, insurance, and other necessary intake information for patients seeking rehabilitation services.
Screen, triage, register and verify a high volume of client eligibility and demographic data.
Direct callers to appropriate personnel, and initiate a triage slip for response by medical personnel.

Patient registrar vs patient service 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 service specialist skills

Patients, 20%
Patient Service, 9%
Physical Therapy, 8%
Rehabilitation, 8%
Patient Appointments, 8%
Front Desk, 7%

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

Updated January 8, 2025

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