Patient service specialist vs patient care specialist

The differences between patient service specialists and patient care 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 specialist and a patient care specialist. Additionally, a patient care specialist has an average salary of $34,157, 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 specialist are patients, patient care, and data entry.

Patient service specialist vs patient care specialist overview

	Patient Service Specialist	Patient Care Specialist
Yearly salary	$33,563	$34,157
Hourly rate	$16.14	$16.42
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	105,915	146,861
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
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 specialist do?

A patient service or care specialist works at different medical facilities. Primary responsibilities include checking patients in and out, scheduling follow-up appointments as well as checking patient eligibility for services or programs. Patient service specialists should maintain a systematic referral log to correlate patient referrals to other specialists. Applicants for the job should have the basic computer knowledge to effectively manage data of patient's files, knowledge of medical terminologies, and possess good interpersonal and customer service skills.

Patient service specialist vs patient care specialist salary

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

	Patient Service Specialist	Patient Care Specialist
Average salary	$33,563	$34,157
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $40,000	Between $20,000 And $55,000
Highest paying City	Springfield, MA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Virginia Eye Institute	KPG
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between patient service specialist and patient care specialist education

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

	Patient Service Specialist	Patient Care Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient service specialist vs patient care specialist demographics

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

	Patient Service Specialist	Patient Care Specialist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 12.5% Female, 87.5%	Male, 20.3% Female, 79.7%
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, 11.7% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.1% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between patient service specialist and patient care specialist 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 specialist example responsibilities.

Use EMR software to manage patient records and files; reinforce and uphold patient confidentiality as required by HIPAA and clinic.
Utilize software applications to document call interactions using medical terminology and responsible for initially engaging patients by explaining the services.
Verify CPT codes along with diagnosis code for guarantee payment for surgeries.
Process daily fee tickets and correctly enter office visit ICD 9 and CPT codes into the system for billing.
Adhere to HIPPA confidentiality guidelines.
Track Medicaid eligibility of clients.

Patient service specialist vs patient care specialist 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 specialist skills

Patients, 33%
Patient Care, 17%
Data Entry, 5%
Medical Terminology, 4%
CPT, 2%
CPR, 2%

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

Updated January 8, 2025

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