Patient representative vs patient care specialist

The differences between patient representatives and patient care specialists 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 care specialist. Additionally, a patient care specialist has an average salary of $34,157, 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 care specialist are patients, patient care, and data entry.

Patient representative vs patient care specialist overview

	Patient Representative	Patient Care Specialist
Yearly salary	$32,469	$34,157
Hourly rate	$15.61	$16.42
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	137,803	146,861
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
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 care specialist do?

A patient service or care specialist works at different medical facilities. Primary responsibilities include checking patients in and out, scheduling follow-up appointments as well as checking patient eligibility for services or programs. Patient service specialists should maintain a systematic referral log to correlate patient referrals to other specialists. Applicants for the job should have the basic computer knowledge to effectively manage data of patient's files, knowledge of medical terminologies, and possess good interpersonal and customer service skills.

Patient representative vs patient care specialist salary

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

	Patient Representative	Patient Care Specialist
Average salary	$32,469	$34,157
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $39,000	Between $20,000 And $55,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Massachusetts
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	KPG
Best paying industry	Non Profits	Health Care

Differences between patient representative and patient care specialist education

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

	Patient Representative	Patient Care Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient representative vs patient care specialist demographics

Here are the differences between patient representatives' and patient care specialists' demographics:

	Patient Representative	Patient Care Specialist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 14.1% Female, 85.9%	Male, 20.3% Female, 79.7%
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, 11.7% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.1% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient representative and patient care specialist 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 care specialist example responsibilities.

Use EMR software to manage patient records and files; reinforce and uphold patient confidentiality as required by HIPAA and clinic.
Utilize software applications to document call interactions using medical terminology and responsible for initially engaging patients by explaining the services.
Verify CPT codes along with diagnosis code for guarantee payment for surgeries.
Process daily fee tickets and correctly enter office visit ICD 9 and CPT codes into the system for billing.
Adhere to HIPPA confidentiality guidelines.
Track Medicaid eligibility of clients.

Patient representative vs patient care specialist skills

Common patient representative skills

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

Common patient care specialist skills

Patients, 33%
Patient Care, 17%
Data Entry, 5%
Medical Terminology, 4%
CPT, 2%
CPR, 2%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Patient Representative
Patient Representative vs Patient Care Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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