How To Become A Patient Service Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a patient service specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A Patient Service Specialist, also known as a Patient Services Representative, is tasked with getting to know, assisting, informing, and keeping patients up to date as necessary.

In order to achieve full care of patients, they must do many things. Their responsibilities include greeting and conducting interviews and staying in contact with the patients, scheduling appointments, collecting and maintaining a database of patient information, processing payments, and generally following up with patients and their physicians.

They are found in a variety of medical practices and facilities, and due to the nature of the job, the Specialist must be good at making and retaining friendly relations with patients and the medical staff.

A person hoping to begin work as a Patient Service Representative generally only needs to have a high school diploma or a GED and knowledge of medical terms and databases. Strong communication and computer skills are also key to this role.

ScorePatient Service SpecialistUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,563

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.3

Growth rate -4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.65%

Asian 6.42%

Black or African American 12.05%

Hispanic or Latino 21.85%

Unknown 5.08%

White 53.95%

Gender

female 87.45%

male 12.55%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

8.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.5

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a patient service specialist

Explore patient service specialist education requirements

Most common patient service specialist degrees

Bachelor's

36.3 %

Associate

25.1 %

High School Diploma

16.5 %

Start to develop specific patient service specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	20.19%
Patient Service	9.00%
Physical Therapy	7.75%
Rehabilitation	7.69%
Patient Appointments	7.58%

Complete relevant patient service specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New patient service specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a patient service specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real patient service specialist resumes.

Research patient service specialist duties and 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.

Prepare your patient service specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your patient service specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a patient service specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable patient service specialist resume templates

Build a professional patient service specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your patient service specialist resume.

Apply for patient service specialist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a patient service specialist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do patient service specialists rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Patient service specialist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020

Pros

Putting that patient/customet first and directing (directions) that person to their Doctors office and setting or cancelling their appointments, just helping people.

Cons

There's nothing to dislike.