Patient representative vs patient registrar

The differences between patient representatives and patient registrars 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 registrar. Additionally, a patient registrar has an average salary of $33,494, 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 registrar are patients, customer service, and medical terminology.

Patient representative vs patient registrar overview

	Patient Representative	Patient Registrar
Yearly salary	$32,469	$33,494
Hourly rate	$15.61	$16.10
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	137,803	86,721
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
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 registrar do?

A patient registrar is responsible for receiving patients in a hospital or other health care institutions, verifying their information, and leading them to the appropriate facility for their health care needs. Patient registrars manage the hospital's database, updating patients' information, confirming insurance details, taking calls, responding to patients' inquiries and concerns, scheduling appointments, and performing related administrative and clerical tasks as needed. A patient registrar must have excellent communication and organizational skills to provide the best quality care services to the patients.

Patient representative vs patient registrar salary

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

	Patient Representative	Patient Registrar
Average salary	$32,469	$33,494
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $39,000	Between $26,000 And $42,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Massachusetts
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Guidehouse
Best paying industry	Non Profits	Health Care

Differences between patient representative and patient registrar education

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

	Patient Representative	Patient Registrar
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient representative vs patient registrar demographics

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

	Patient Representative	Patient Registrar
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 14.1% Female, 85.9%	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%
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, 11.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 23.0% Asian, 6.4% White, 53.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient representative and patient registrar 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 registrar example responsibilities.

Process release of information requests according to HIPAA regulations and manage valuables safe for entire facility.
Specialize in high degree of compassion when communicating with patients providing information and insurance details.
Receive patients, record patient demographic information and verify insurance for emergency department, laboratory, and radiology
Register patients and ensure correctness of all demographic information in AS400, verify insurance on various websites and collect patient co-payments.
Update demographics, billing information, Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance during patient interviews to obtain pertinent registration information.
Enter confidential personal health information and financial information into IDX system with a high rate of accuracy and confidentiality.

Patient representative vs patient registrar skills

Common patient representative skills

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

Common patient registrar skills

Patients, 25%
Customer Service, 11%
Medical Terminology, 11%
Patient Registration, 4%
Patient Care, 4%
Insurance Verification, 3%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Patient Representative
Patient Representative vs Patient Registrar

Updated January 8, 2025

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