Patient representative vs office representative

The differences between patient representatives and office 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 an office representative takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an office representative has an average salary of $32,535, which is higher than the $32,469 average annual salary of a patient representative.

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

Patient representative vs office representative overview

	Patient Representative	Office Representative
Yearly salary	$32,469	$32,535
Hourly rate	$15.61	$15.64
Growth rate	-4%	-5%
Number of jobs	137,803	149,852
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	40	47
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 an office representative do?

Office Representatives are administrative professionals assigned to do various admin work in the office. They are in charge of managing communication lines, correspondences, and packages. They are often assigned to sort documents, update records, and file papers in the proper cabinets. Office representatives are considered front desk officers as well. They respond to inquiries by guests, direct guests to their meeting areas, and receive mail. They may also be assigned to manage meeting rooms and update appointment calendars. They should have good communication skills and should be service-oriented.

Patient representative vs office representative salary

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

	Patient Representative	Office Representative
Average salary	$32,469	$32,535
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $39,000	Between $23,000 And $45,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	New York
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Citi
Best paying industry	Non Profits	Agriculture

Differences between patient representative and office representative education

There are a few differences between a patient representative and an office representative in terms of educational background:

	Patient Representative	Office Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Western Carolina University

Patient representative vs office representative demographics

Here are the differences between patient representatives' and office representatives' demographics:

	Patient Representative	Office Representative
Average age	40	47
Gender ratio	Male, 14.1% Female, 85.9%	Male, 26.6% Female, 73.4%
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, 10.9% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 53.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	7%	6%

Differences between patient representative and office 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.

Office representative example responsibilities.

Manage the medical front office and coordinate business operations with physicians and legal staff for a busy MRI facility.
Manage correspondence and documentation for OSHA compliance and hold some accounts payable responsibilities by coding invoices for processing and payment.
Manage operational FedEx relationship through order fulfillment, shipment tracking, and communication with parties involve in shipment transaction.
Reconcile any EOB, insurance payment or discount errors.
Perform physician coding abstracting medical records with ICD-10, and CPT.
Post payments and enter charges utilizing appropriate ICD9 and CPT codes.

Patient representative vs office representative skills

Common patient representative skills

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

Common office representative skills

Patients, 20%
Customer Service, 13%
Phone Calls, 8%
Patient Appointments, 7%
EMR, 5%
Excellent Interpersonal, 5%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Patient Representative
Patient Representative vs Office Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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