Patient service representative vs patient advocate

The differences between patient service 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 service representative and a patient advocate. Additionally, a patient advocate has an average salary of $36,325, which is higher than the $32,476 average annual salary of a patient service representative.

The top three skills for a patient service representative include patients, customer service and excellent interpersonal. The most important skills for a patient advocate are patients, customer service, and patient care.

Patient service representative vs patient advocate overview

	Patient Service Representative	Patient Advocate
Yearly salary	$32,476	$36,325
Hourly rate	$15.61	$17.46
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	165,920	88,778
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	4	4

What does a patient service representative do?

A Patient Service Representative is responsible for coordinating with patients, ensuring accuracy and satisfaction at all times. The duties of a Patient Service Representative revolves around greeting and responding to patients, offering assistance in documentation, gathering and maintaining their personal information, and even communicating with the family or guardian. They also have to collect payments and process insurance details, obtain medical history, and even keep the patients updated in various aspects. Aside from this, it is crucial for a Representative coordinate with supervisors or personnel in-charge at all times.

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 service representative vs patient advocate salary

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

	Patient Service Representative	Patient Advocate
Average salary	$32,476	$36,325
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $38,000	Between $29,000 And $45,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Springfield, MA
Highest paying state	Vermont	Massachusetts
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Cognizant
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient service representative and patient advocate education

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

	Patient Service Representative	Patient Advocate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient service representative vs patient advocate demographics

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

	Patient Service Representative	Patient Advocate
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 11.9% Female, 88.1%	Male, 17.5% Female, 82.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 21.5% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.7% 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 service representative and patient advocate duties and responsibilities

Patient service representative example responsibilities.

Manage the daily release of charges to A/R.
Adhere with all state and federal regulations such as EMTALA and HIPPA requirements and appropriately collect co-payments and deductibles from patients.
Provide caring and compassion to elderly and developmentally disable patients.
Demonstrate respect, compassion and confidentiality for patients and family members.
Provide professional and accurate service to schedule patient appointments, check-in and verify insurance eligibility.
Provide quality customer service to patients and observe all protocols regarding HIPPA regulations to ensure patient confidentiality.

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 service representative vs patient advocate skills

Common patient service representative skills

Patients, 20%
Customer Service, 12%
Excellent Interpersonal, 7%
Check-In, 7%
Patient Service, 6%
Excellent Organizational, 6%

Common patient advocate skills

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

Patient Service Representative vs. similar jobs

Patient Service Representative related careers

Patient Service Representative related jobs

Patient Service Representative jobs by location

Zippia Careers
Office and Administrative Industry
Patient Service Representative
Patient Service Representative vs Patient Advocate

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse office and administrative jobs