Patient registrar vs registration specialist

The differences between patient registrars and registration 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 registration specialist. Additionally, a patient registrar has an average salary of $33,494, which is higher than the $30,422 average annual salary of a registration specialist.

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

Patient registrar vs registration specialist overview

	Patient Registrar	Registration Specialist
Yearly salary	$33,494	$30,422
Hourly rate	$16.10	$14.63
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	86,721	79,118
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
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 registration specialist do?

A registration specialist is responsible for managing patient information, including the verification of their insurance details and medical treatment schedules. Registration specialists assign admission rooms and processing payments for discharge. They also assist patients with the completion of medical forms by helping them fill-out papers with the most accurate information. A registration specialist performs administrative and clerical duties as needed, requiring them to have excellent data management skills to process information and provide the highest quality care services for the patients.

Patient registrar vs registration specialist salary

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

	Patient Registrar	Registration Specialist
Average salary	$33,494	$30,422
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $42,000	Between $23,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Guidehouse	Deloitte
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient registrar and registration specialist education

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

	Patient Registrar	Registration Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient registrar vs registration specialist demographics

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

	Patient Registrar	Registration Specialist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%	Male, 14.5% Female, 85.5%
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, 10.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 6.0% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient registrar and registration 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.

Registration specialist example responsibilities.

Attain and authenticate patient insurance information, counsel patients on changes in insurance policies, verify patient demographics.
Help patients through the registration and admitting processes and also contribute to the PBX department.
Input data entries for insurance billing; adding CPT codes and diagnosis from face sheets as patients arrive.
Act as hospital PBX operator.
Complete all charge entry, enter all CPT and ICD-9 codes for billing for multiple doctors each day.
Enter patient information and verify information according to HIPAA regulations.

Patient registrar vs registration specialist skills

Common patient registrar skills

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

Common registration specialist skills

Patients, 25%
Customer Service, 14%
Medical Terminology, 8%
Patient Registration, 5%
Insurance Verification, 4%
Data Entry, 4%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Patient Registrar
Patient Registrar vs Registration Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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