Patient representative vs medical receptionist

The differences between patient representatives and medical receptionists 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 medical receptionist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a patient representative has an average salary of $32,469, which is higher than the $31,960 average annual salary of a medical receptionist.

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

Patient representative vs medical receptionist overview

	Patient Representative	Medical Receptionist
Yearly salary	$32,469	$31,960
Hourly rate	$15.61	$15.37
Growth rate	-4%	-8%
Number of jobs	137,803	118,048
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Associate Degree, 28%
Average age	40	49
Years of experience	4	2

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 medical receptionist do?

Medical receptionists are responsible for manning the front desk at a medical facility such as a clinic or a hospital. They manage schedules and appointments in the clinic or hospital. They help patients to their respective appointments. They also assist doctors, nurses, and other medical practitioners by ensuring that the schedule for the day is being followed. They are also in charge of assisting visitors by directing them wherever they would need to go. Medical receptionists also answer inquiries by patients or visitors. Medical knowledge, great customer service skills, and a friendly attitude are needed.

Patient representative vs medical receptionist salary

Patient representatives and medical receptionists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Patient Representative	Medical Receptionist
Average salary	$32,469	$31,960
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $39,000	Between $26,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Portland, ME
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Maine
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	CENTER FOR SIGHT
Best paying industry	Non Profits	Health Care

Differences between patient representative and medical receptionist education

There are a few differences between a patient representative and a medical receptionist in terms of educational background:

	Patient Representative	Medical Receptionist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Associate Degree, 28%
Most common major	Business	Health Care Administration
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	-

Patient representative vs medical receptionist demographics

Here are the differences between patient representatives' and medical receptionists' demographics:

	Patient Representative	Medical Receptionist
Average age	40	49
Gender ratio	Male, 14.1% Female, 85.9%	Male, 5.2% Female, 94.8%
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, 9.6% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 3.8% White, 70.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	7%	9%

Differences between patient representative and medical receptionist 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.

Medical receptionist example responsibilities.

Conduct analysis to address long wait times which lead to faster triage, shorter wait times.
Evaluate all EOB's to insure accurate payment is received and when necessary will file appeals to achieve optimal payments.
Greet and check-in patients, including obtaining accurate patient demographic information, patient registration, and checking insurance eligibility.
Learned and operate chiropractic equipment (decompression; Leander) & x-rays; enabling Dr to have more time for patients.
Resolve concerns of terminally ill patients with compassion and professionalism.
Identify patients' specific scheduling requirements while demonstrating care and compassion via telephone.

Patient representative vs medical receptionist skills

Common patient representative skills

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

Common medical receptionist skills

Patients, 30%
Customer Service, 9%
Check-In, 6%
Medical Terminology, 6%
Patient Care, 4%
Front Desk, 4%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Patient Representative
Patient Representative vs Medical Receptionist

Updated January 8, 2025

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