Patient service specialist vs certified medical technician

The differences between patient service specialists and certified medical technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a patient service specialist, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a certified medical technician has an average salary of $38,859, which is higher than the $33,563 average annual salary of a patient service specialist.

The top three skills for a patient service specialist include patients, patient service and physical therapy. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.

Patient service specialist vs certified medical technician overview

	Patient Service Specialist	Certified Medical Technician
Yearly salary	$33,563	$38,859
Hourly rate	$16.14	$18.68
Growth rate	-4%	5%
Number of jobs	105,915	164,424
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Average age	40	44
Years of experience	4	12

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.

What does a certified medical technician do?

Certified Medical Technicians are specialists in medical diagnoses by performing laboratory testing and analysis for hospitals and physicians. Their duties include lab sanitization to prepare for testing and collection, recording medical samples for testing, specimen preparation, blood drawing for donation and testing, and assisting physicians with sample collection as well as equipment handling in surgical rooms. They must also understand how to use complex and sensitive testing equipment such as cell counters, analyzers, microscopes, and centrifuges.

Patient service specialist vs certified medical technician salary

Patient service specialists and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Patient Service Specialist	Certified Medical Technician
Average salary	$33,563	$38,859
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $40,000	Between $28,000 And $53,000
Highest paying City	Springfield, MA	Denton, TX
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Alaska
Best paying company	Virginia Eye Institute	Favorite Healthcare Staffing
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient service specialist and certified medical technician education

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

	Patient Service Specialist	Certified Medical Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 28%
Most common major	Business	Nursing
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Connecticut

Patient service specialist vs certified medical technician demographics

Here are the differences between patient service specialists' and certified medical technicians' demographics:

	Patient Service Specialist	Certified Medical Technician
Average age	40	44
Gender ratio	Male, 12.5% Female, 87.5%	Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 15.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 10.0% White, 53.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	7%	8%

Differences between patient service specialist and certified medical technician duties and responsibilities

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.

Certified medical technician example responsibilities.

Maintain the cleanliness of storage areas, trays, centrifuges, refrigerators, freezers and work area.
Administer medications to patients according to their medication record as scheduled, as needed according to physician orders.
Perform laboratory test and procedures in areas including chemistry, hematology, urinalysis, coagulation, serology, and bacteriology.
Perform first aid and apply CPR when necessary.
Perform first aid or CPR during medical emergencies until paramedics arrive.
Assist the residents in their ADL needs and prepare their meals.

Patient service specialist vs certified medical technician skills

Common patient service specialist skills

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

Common certified medical technician skills

Patients, 17%
Vital Signs, 12%
CPR, 8%
Administer Medications, 7%
Resident Care, 6%
HIPAA, 6%

Patient Service Specialist vs. similar jobs

Patient Service Specialist related careers

Patient Service Specialist related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Office and Administrative Industry
Patient Service Specialist
Patient Service Specialist vs Certified Medical Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse office and administrative jobs