Patient relations representative vs patient coordinator

The differences between patient relations representatives and patient coordinators 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 coordinator. Additionally, a patient coordinator has an average salary of $32,954, 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 coordinator are patients, customer service, and patient care.

Patient relations representative vs patient coordinator overview

	Patient Relations Representative	Patient Coordinator
Yearly salary	$32,856	$32,954
Hourly rate	$15.80	$15.84
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	98,099	97,878
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
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 coordinator do?

A patient coordinator functions as the primary point of contact between health care professionals and patients in a medical facility. They mostly perform administrative tasks such as greeting visitors, answering calls, responding to inquiries, managing schedules, arranging appointments, processing payments, gathering information, and keeping records. Moreover, they assist in filling out forms, escorting patients to different rooms or offices, and setting treatment plans. Most importantly, they discuss and share necessary information with patients and families regarding medications, procedures, and proceeding care according to a physician's assessment.

Patient relations representative vs patient coordinator salary

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

	Patient Relations Representative	Patient Coordinator
Average salary	$32,856	$32,954
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $41,000	Between $25,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Brockton, MA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Massachusetts
Best paying company	UC Merced	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient relations representative and patient coordinator education

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

	Patient Relations Representative	Patient Coordinator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient relations representative vs patient coordinator demographics

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

	Patient Relations Representative	Patient Coordinator
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 18.0% Female, 82.0%	Male, 11.2% Female, 88.8%
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, 11.1% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 25.4% Asian, 6.2% White, 51.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient relations representative and patient coordinator 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 coordinator example responsibilities.

Comply with HIPAA regulations by discreetly and professionally handling all patients private medical information.
Gather personal plus insurance information and perform thorough insurance breakdowns for patients.
Communicate directly with patients to obtain initial patient information and respond to inquiries.
Process and update HIPAA relate paperwork and other require institutional forms as necessary.
Obtain all necessary documentation prior to surgery such as proof of identification, copy of insurance and require insurance referrals.
Respond in writing to all grievances in accordance with CMS and DNV guidelines.

Patient relations representative vs patient coordinator 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 coordinator skills

Patients, 30%
Customer Service, 11%
Patient Care, 6%
Patient Flow, 5%
Excellent Organizational, 4%
Check-In, 3%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Patient Relations Representative
Patient Relations Representative vs Patient Coordinator

Updated January 8, 2025

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