Patient relations representative vs patient liaison

The differences between patient relations representatives and patient liaisons 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 liaison. Additionally, a patient relations representative has an average salary of $32,856, which is higher than the $32,314 average annual salary of a patient liaison.

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

Patient relations representative vs patient liaison overview

	Patient Relations Representative	Patient Liaison
Yearly salary	$32,856	$32,314
Hourly rate	$15.80	$15.54
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	98,099	84,302
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
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 liaison do?

Patient Liaisons are intermediaries addressing concerns on behalf of patients and families working in tandem with the hospital administrator. They are responsible for gathering data regarding patient care issues and inquiries, assessing patient well-being, suggesting improvements, and interpreting hospital service, policies, and procedures to patients and families. Patient Liaisons also work to educate health care professionals in humanizing the hospital experience for patients. They work in a hospital, clinic, nursing home, or programs related to public health.

Patient relations representative vs patient liaison salary

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

	Patient Relations Representative	Patient Liaison
Average salary	$32,856	$32,314
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $41,000	Between $24,000 And $42,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Massachusetts
Best paying company	UC Merced	Brigham and Women's Hospital
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient relations representative and patient liaison education

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

	Patient Relations Representative	Patient Liaison
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient relations representative vs patient liaison demographics

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

	Patient Relations Representative	Patient Liaison
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 18.0% Female, 82.0%	Male, 16.2% Female, 83.8%
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, 11.5% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 6.9% White, 55.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

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

Provide support for emergencies by managing inappropriate behaviors, aggressive patients, CPR and persons in crisis.
Conduct all insurance verification and obtain authorization to treat sub-acute rehabilitation patients.
Attend Michigan state eligibility hearings, when necessary to assist and gain Medicaid disability benefits for patients.
Interview patients of hospital facility to obtain necessary documentation to secure Medicaid coverage as payment of inpatient hospital charges.
Set up payment plan, verify personal information per HIPAA guidelines.
Respect and maintain HIPPA and patient confidentiality and dignity of patients at all times.

Patient relations representative vs patient liaison 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 liaison skills

Patients, 37%
Customer Service, 16%
Medical Terminology, 4%
Health System, 3%
HIPAA, 3%
Surgery, 2%

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

Updated January 8, 2025

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