Patient representative vs patient advocate

The differences between patient representatives and patient advocates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a patient representative and a patient advocate. Additionally, a patient advocate has an average salary of $36,325, 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 a patient advocate are patients, customer service, and patient care.

Patient representative vs patient advocate overview

	Patient Representative	Patient Advocate
Yearly salary	$32,469	$36,325
Hourly rate	$15.61	$17.46
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	137,803	88,778
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	4	4

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 patient advocate do?

A patient advocate is responsible for supporting the patients with the medical processes in a healthcare institution, assisting them with insurance claims and medical billing disputes, verifying treatment procedures, and conducting referrals to medical professionals based on the patient's needs. Patient advocates facilitate a payment plan for the patients, discussing this plan to the financial department of the facility. They also address the patients' inquiries and concerns, as well as their complaints with hospital operations, immediately raising these issues to higher management.

Patient representative vs patient advocate salary

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

	Patient Representative	Patient Advocate
Average salary	$32,469	$36,325
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $39,000	Between $29,000 And $45,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Springfield, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Massachusetts
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Cognizant
Best paying industry	Non Profits	Health Care

Differences between patient representative and patient advocate education

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

	Patient Representative	Patient Advocate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient representative vs patient advocate demographics

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

	Patient Representative	Patient Advocate
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 14.1% Female, 85.9%	Male, 17.5% Female, 82.5%
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, 10.5% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 23.6% Asian, 6.8% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient representative and patient advocate 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.

Patient advocate example responsibilities.

Manage the complaint process as required by CMS for the hospital.
Provide support for emergencies by managing inappropriate behaviors, aggressive patients, CPR and persons in crisis.
Train to welcome and register patients at ESI triage window.
Document patients medical problems using ICD 9 and CPT coding for patients diagnosis.
Pull any incoming referrals, triage them, and schedule patients with the appropriate doctor.
Collect and review patient information to determine patients' eligibility for Medicaid and charity program assistance.

Patient representative vs patient advocate skills

Common patient representative skills

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

Common patient advocate skills

Patients, 28%
Customer Service, 11%
Patient Care, 5%
Medicaid, 4%
Financial Assistance, 4%
Patient Accounts, 4%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Patient Representative
Patient Representative vs Patient Advocate

Updated January 8, 2025

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