How To Become A Patient Representative: What It Is and Career Path

What is a patient representative and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

A patient representative advocates for patients and their families in healthcare settings. They work to ensure that patients receive high-quality care and that their concerns are addressed. Patient representatives also guide patients and their families, helping them navigate complex healthcare systems and access resources and services. They work in hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities. Patient representatives play a crucial role in ensuring that patients receive the best possible care.

ScorePatient RepresentativeUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $32,469

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.3

Growth rate -4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.70%

Asian 5.84%

Black or African American 12.44%

Hispanic or Latino 22.22%

Unknown 5.28%

White 53.51%

Gender

female 85.88%

male 14.12%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

8.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.5

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a patient representative?

Pros

Exposure to the healthcare industry
Ability to work with diverse groups of people
Opportunity to learn about various medical conditions
Opportunity to work in a team-based environment
Possibility of career advancement

Cons

Can be emotionally taxing dealing with patients and families going through difficult times
Can be stressful due to the responsibility of representing patients' needs
Can require working on weekends and holidays
May have to deal with difficult or uncooperative patients
Difficulties in balancing the needs of patients with the priorities of healthcare institutions

Key steps to become a patient representative

Explore patient representative education requirements

Most common patient representative degrees

Bachelor's

36.4 %

Associate

25.8 %

High School Diploma

16.5 %

Start to develop specific patient representative skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	27.85%
Check-In	7.81%
Medical Terminology	5.44%
Patient Care	4.61%
Insurance Verification	4.43%

Complete relevant patient representative training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New patient representatives learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a patient representative based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real patient representative resumes.

Research patient representative duties and responsibilities

Code preoperative patients' surgical procedures according to surgeon's operative order by using CPT code book.
Develop physical and psychological rehabilitation programs for head trauma patients.
Assist uninsured and under-insure hospital patients in applying for government benefits including Medicaid and charity care programs.
Give patients preparations, take insurance information, and enter all necessary and relevant information into computer system.

Prepare your patient representative resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your patient representative resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a patient representative resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable patient representative resume templates

Build a professional patient representative resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your patient representative resume.

Apply for patient representative jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a patient representative job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do patient representatives rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Patient representative reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020

Pros

Putting that patient/customet first and directing (directions) that person to their Doctors office and setting or cancelling their appointments, just helping people.

Cons

There's nothing to dislike.