Patient service specialist vs patient care representative

The differences between patient service specialists and patient care representatives 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 specialist and a patient care representative. Additionally, a patient care representative has an average salary of $33,709, 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 patient care representative are patients, patient care, and home health.

Patient service specialist vs patient care representative overview

	Patient Service Specialist	Patient Care Representative
Yearly salary	$33,563	$33,709
Hourly rate	$16.14	$16.21
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	105,915	133,317
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	4	4

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 patient care representative do?

PCRs (Patient Care Representatives) are given responsibilities like updating and verifying patient information after every visit, scheduling and reminding patients about appointments, and informing patients about delays and how long the estimated waiting times will be. They are also responsible for obtaining patients' personal information like their address, contact details, insurance information, and medical and surgical history. They must be able to communicate with patients, family members, and medical staff to give them all the information they need to treat the person looking for medical help.

Patient service specialist vs patient care representative salary

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

	Patient Service Specialist	Patient Care Representative
Average salary	$33,563	$33,709
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $40,000	Between $27,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Springfield, MA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Alaska
Best paying company	Virginia Eye Institute	Massachusetts General Hospital
Best paying industry	Health Care	Technology

Differences between patient service specialist and patient care representative education

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

	Patient Service Specialist	Patient Care Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient service specialist vs patient care representative demographics

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

	Patient Service Specialist	Patient Care Representative
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 12.5% Female, 87.5%	Male, 17.1% Female, 82.9%
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, 12.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 20.3% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient service specialist and patient care representative 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.

Patient care representative example responsibilities.

Manage cash and co-payments accurately and discharge patients providing them with proper medical notes and information before exiting.
Verify insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, register patients, and code proper ICD-9 and CPT codes on encounters.
Utilize medical terminology, CPT, HCPC and ICD-9 and patient information into new authorizations.
Interview patients to gather information pertinent to their Medicaid application.
Screen, identify, and enter ICD-9 coding from treatment record forms.
Maintain patient confidentiality and follow HIPAA rules.

Patient service specialist vs patient care representative skills

Common patient service specialist skills

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

Common patient care representative skills

Patients, 25%
Patient Care, 13%
Home Health, 7%
Cash Management, 5%
Phone Calls, 4%
CPT, 3%

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

Updated January 8, 2025

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