Patient representative vs patient service specialist

The differences between patient representatives and patient service 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 service specialist. Additionally, a patient service specialist has an average salary of $33,563, 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 service specialist are patients, patient service, and physical therapy.

Patient representative vs patient service specialist overview

	Patient Representative	Patient Service Specialist
Yearly salary	$32,469	$33,563
Hourly rate	$15.61	$16.14
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	137,803	105,915
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
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 service specialist do?

A patient service representative serves as a patient's primary point of contact in a hospital or clinic, ensuring accuracy and customer satisfaction. They are mainly responsible for gathering a patient's information and medical history, verifying insurance forms, managing accounts, and processing payments, arranging appointments, and even performing reminder calls and correspondence. There are also instances when a patient service representative must discuss situations to patients and their families, and even alert the doctors when a patient displays strange or unlikely behavior.

Patient representative vs patient service specialist salary

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

	Patient Representative	Patient Service Specialist
Average salary	$32,469	$33,563
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $39,000	Between $27,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Springfield, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Massachusetts
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Virginia Eye Institute
Best paying industry	Non Profits	Health Care

Differences between patient representative and patient service specialist education

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

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

Patient representative vs patient service specialist demographics

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

	Patient Representative	Patient Service Specialist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 14.1% Female, 85.9%	Male, 12.5% Female, 87.5%
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, 12.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.9% Asian, 6.4% White, 54.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

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

Benefit coverage eligibility or concerns for patients will be complete timely to achieve identify outcomes or solutions.
Greet patients and visitors with warmth, compassion, and demonstrate commitment to exceptional service.
Provide customer service to patients via registration, co-pay and co-insurance payment collection, appointment scheduling and telephone service
Obtain patient demographic, billing, insurance, and other necessary intake information for patients seeking rehabilitation services.
Screen, triage, register and verify a high volume of client eligibility and demographic data.
Direct callers to appropriate personnel, and initiate a triage slip for response by medical personnel.

Patient representative vs patient service 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 service specialist skills

Patients, 20%
Patient Service, 9%
Physical Therapy, 8%
Rehabilitation, 8%
Patient Appointments, 8%
Front Desk, 7%

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

Updated January 8, 2025

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