Patient relations representative vs patient care representative

The differences between patient relations representatives 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 relations representative and a patient care representative. Additionally, a patient care representative has an average salary of $33,709, which is higher than the $32,856 average annual salary of a patient relations representative.

The top three skills for a patient relations representative include patients, customer service and home health. The most important skills for a patient care representative are patients, patient care, and home health.

Patient relations representative vs patient care representative overview

	Patient Relations Representative	Patient Care Representative
Yearly salary	$32,856	$33,709
Hourly rate	$15.80	$16.21
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	98,099	133,317
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	4	4

What does a patient relations representative do?

Public health officers assess the effectiveness of recommended risk reduction actions. The health officers focus on the overall health of communities instead of treating individual patients. These officers manage the work of staff members, statisticians, and doctors. They are responsible for developing tools to address behavioral causes of diseases, recognizing groups at threat for specific preventable diseases, and training medical teams about precautionary medicine problems. The qualifications of becoming public health administrators include efficiency and patience, stress management and problem resolution, and dependability and motivation.

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 relations representative vs patient care representative salary

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

	Patient Relations Representative	Patient Care Representative
Average salary	$32,856	$33,709
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $41,000	Between $27,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Alaska
Best paying company	UC Merced	Massachusetts General Hospital
Best paying industry	Health Care	Technology

Differences between patient relations representative and patient care representative education

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

	Patient Relations Representative	Patient Care Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient relations representative vs patient care representative demographics

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

	Patient Relations Representative	Patient Care Representative
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 18.0% Female, 82.0%	Male, 17.1% Female, 82.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 21.8% Asian, 5.7% White, 56.0% 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 relations representative and patient care representative duties and responsibilities

Patient relations representative example responsibilities.

Assist with patient inquiries, release of information, while maintaining HIPAA regulation.
Ensure patient's HIPAA regulations are being meet by hospital staff.
Conduct family interviews for financial aid, Medicaid or discounts to family income status.
Collect demographic information for new and establish patients and loads it into an automate registration/ scheduling system.
Register new patients and updates existing patient demographics by collecting detail patient information including personal and financial information.
Obtain all necessary documentation prior to surgery such as proof of identification, copy of insurance and require insurance referrals.

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 relations representative vs patient care representative skills

Common patient relations representative skills

Patients, 22%
Customer Service, 14%
Home Health, 11%
Patient Care, 9%
Medical Terminology, 9%
Patient Relations, 5%

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 Relations Representative
Patient Relations Representative vs Patient Care Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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