Patient representative vs customer service representative

The differences between patient representatives and customer 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 representative, becoming a customer service representative takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a patient representative has an average salary of $32,469, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.

The top three skills for a patient representative include patients, check-in and medical terminology. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.

Patient representative vs customer service representative overview

	Patient Representative	Customer Service Representative
Yearly salary	$32,469	$32,260
Hourly rate	$15.61	$15.51
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	137,803	209,515
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	High School Diploma, 33%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	4	12

What does a patient representative do?

A patient representative is responsible for assisting the patients with their health care needs by identifying their medical concerns, assessing their medical history, and referring them to the appropriate physicians or other medical professionals for immediate treatments and further examinations. Patient representatives verify the patients' insurance information, guiding them on filling out medical forms, processing payments for medical services, and updating them for the release of medical results. A patient representative must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially when responding to patient's inquiries and concerns timely and accurately, and performing additional administrative and clerical tasks as needed.

What does a customer service representative do?

Customer service representatives are the first point of contact of the customers, acting as the frontiers of the company and help in driving customer loyalty and retention by leaving a great impression and resolving all of their concerns. They accommodate customer queries by providing useful and comprehensive information about any products or services. Some would use that as an opportunity to market and promote more sales. The most challenging issues they use to handle are customer complaints and processing of refunds and returns. They also assist in basic troubleshooting or accounts and payment setup with the use of specific guidelines or step by step procedures. At most, they help and solve customer issues on their own, but sometimes they would need support from supervisors or other departments.

Patient representative vs customer service representative salary

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

	Patient Representative	Customer Service Representative
Average salary	$32,469	$32,260
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $39,000	Between $25,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Des Moines, WA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Washington
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Oracle
Best paying industry	Non Profits	Insurance

Differences between patient representative and customer service representative education

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

	Patient Representative	Customer Service Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	High School Diploma, 33%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	-

Patient representative vs customer service representative demographics

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

	Patient Representative	Customer Service Representative
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 14.1% Female, 85.9%	Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.4% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 22.2% Asian, 5.8% White, 53.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.2% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient representative and customer service representative duties and responsibilities

Patient representative example 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.
Schedule appointments -Answered phones -provide care and compassion for patients -handle payments and maintain a proper transaction report daily
Greet patients upon arrival and pre-register visit ensuring patient does not have duplicate medical records.

Customer service representative example responsibilities.

Manage and plan escalations; assure HIPPA guidelines are followed for confidentially and privacy.
Maintain cleanliness and safety and assist patients as necessary.
Operate POS system and maintain exceptional and consistent customer service.
Exercise proofreading and basic math skills to maintain quality control over documents process
Work in customer service department entering information into customer relationship management (CRM).
Develop highly empathetic client relationships and earn reputation for exceeding good customer service rep goals.

Patient representative vs customer service representative skills

Common patient representative skills

Patients, 28%
Check-In, 8%
Medical Terminology, 5%
Patient Care, 5%
Insurance Verification, 4%
Patient Demographics, 3%

Common customer service representative skills

Cleanliness, 10%
POS, 7%
Data Entry, 6%
Sales Floor, 6%
Customer Service, 5%
Home Health, 5%

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

Updated January 8, 2025

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