Patient service representative vs patient service specialist

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

Patient service representative vs patient service specialist overview

	Patient Service Representative	Patient Service Specialist
Yearly salary	$32,476	$33,563
Hourly rate	$15.61	$16.14
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	165,920	105,915
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
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 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 service representative vs patient service specialist salary

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

	Patient Service Representative	Patient Service Specialist
Average salary	$32,476	$33,563
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $38,000	Between $27,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Springfield, MA
Highest paying state	Vermont	Massachusetts
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Virginia Eye Institute
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient service representative and patient service specialist education

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

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

Patient service representative vs patient service specialist demographics

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

	Patient Service Representative	Patient Service Specialist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 11.9% Female, 88.1%	Male, 12.5% Female, 87.5%
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, 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 service representative and patient service specialist 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 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 service representative vs patient service specialist 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 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 Service Representative
Patient Service Representative vs Patient Service Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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