Patient relations representative vs service representative

The differences between patient relations representatives and service representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a patient relations representative, becoming a service representative takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a service representative has an average salary of $33,692, 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 service representative are customer service, client service, and patients.

Patient relations representative vs service representative overview

	Patient Relations Representative	Service Representative
Yearly salary	$32,856	$33,692
Hourly rate	$15.80	$16.20
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	98,099	210,671
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	4	12

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 service representative do?

Service representatives handle customer inquiries, requests, complaints, and other general feedback. They are usually the first point of contact with the company's customers. Service representatives are expected to be familiar with all of the company's products so that they can answer all inquiries made by the customers. They should also be familiar with company policies and guidelines on sales and customer handling so that they can address concerns and feedback. They are usually the ones who try to resolve customer complaints by sending issues to applicable departments and ensuring that customers are satisfied with the company's products and services.

Patient relations representative vs service representative salary

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

	Patient Relations Representative	Service Representative
Average salary	$32,856	$33,692
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $41,000	Between $24,000 And $45,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	Alaska	New York
Best paying company	UC Merced	Northern Trust
Best paying industry	Health Care	Government

Differences between patient relations representative and service representative education

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

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

Patient relations representative vs service representative demographics

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

	Patient Relations Representative	Service Representative
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 18.0% Female, 82.0%	Male, 39.6% Female, 60.4%
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, 11.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 20.6% Asian, 6.8% White, 55.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient relations representative and service 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.

Service representative example responsibilities.

Utilize QuickBooks to manage patient's payment for hearing aids and various equipment.
Join online marketplace specializing in local deals to manage customer engagements while providing industry-best service.
Manage customer relations with internal personnel, group administrators, brokers and members as related to Medicare insurance.
Involve great interpersonal skills and upselling.
Provide excellent customer service via ZenDesk e-mail platform.
Counsele individuals who are applying for or receiving TANF.

Patient relations representative vs service 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 service representative skills

Customer Service, 9%
Client Service, 8%
Patients, 7%
PET, 5%
Front Desk, 5%
Veterans, 5%

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

Updated January 8, 2025

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