Physician specialist vs reimbursement specialist

The differences between physician specialists and reimbursement specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a physician specialist, becoming a reimbursement specialist takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a physician specialist has an average salary of $210,219, which is higher than the $38,273 average annual salary of a reimbursement specialist.

The top three skills for a physician specialist include patients, patient care and surgery. The most important skills for a reimbursement specialist are patients, customer service, and appeals.

Physician specialist vs reimbursement specialist overview

	Physician Specialist	Reimbursement Specialist
Yearly salary	$210,219	$38,273
Hourly rate	$101.07	$18.40
Growth rate	-8%	11%
Number of jobs	63,020	32,292
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age	49	45
Years of experience	2	12

What does a physician specialist do?

A Physician Specialist is a doctor who specializes in a particular field of medicine, such as pediatrics, urology, psychiatry, and more. Their responsibilities revolve around studying the patients' medical history, conducting assessments and evaluations, developing care and treatment plans, prescribing medication, and helping patients understand their conditions and symptoms. In some cases, a Physician Specialist may recommend patients to undergo surgeries and other procedures. Moreover, aside from treating and diagnosing medical conditions, a Physician Specialist maintains an active communication line with nurses and technicians for a smooth and efficient workflow.

What does a reimbursement specialist do?

A reimbursement specialist is responsible for analyzing insurance documents, processing reimbursement claims, and releasing accurate billing statements for insurance claims. Reimbursement specialists must have excellent analytical skills, especially on performing clerical tasks to evaluate insurance cases, investigate cases, and update the account information of the clients on the database. They should also have impeccable communication skills and understanding of the insurance processes to be able to coordinate with the clients, explaining the procedures of their claims accurately, and coordinate with the insurance management to improve the claims processes.

Physician specialist vs reimbursement specialist salary

Physician specialists and reimbursement specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Physician Specialist	Reimbursement Specialist
Average salary	$210,219	$38,273
Salary range	Between $111,000 And $396,000	Between $29,000 And $49,000
Highest paying City	Bradenton, FL	Lynchburg, VA
Highest paying state	Delaware	Virginia
Best paying company	Saint Luke's Health System	Novartis
Best paying industry	Health Care	Pharmaceutical

Differences between physician specialist and reimbursement specialist education

There are a few differences between a physician specialist and a reimbursement specialist in terms of educational background:

	Physician Specialist	Reimbursement Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	University of Pennsylvania

Physician specialist vs reimbursement specialist demographics

Here are the differences between physician specialists' and reimbursement specialists' demographics:

	Physician Specialist	Reimbursement Specialist
Average age	49	45
Gender ratio	Male, 25.0% Female, 75.0%	Male, 15.2% Female, 84.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 3.8% White, 70.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 8.1% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between physician specialist and reimbursement specialist duties and responsibilities

Physician specialist example responsibilities.

Manage providers' office and call schedules, outlook calendars and assist with surgery scheduling.
Generate referral letters for physicians, manage and sort medical documents within the EHR system, and assist with e-prescribing.
Review complete ultrasound and non-stress testing reports and assign appropriate ICD-10 and CPT codes.
Train in AllScripts EMR system.
Retrieve medical records from EMR and save to flash drive.
File written letters of appeal on claims deny by the Medicaid.

Reimbursement specialist example responsibilities.

Manage the EDI clearinghouse rejections.
Process department payroll, order supplies, and manage petty-cash funds.
Manage use of various systems, such as MEDITECH, Cerner, WebNow, and yield-base follow-up tool.
Manage cases by aggressively directing the litigation process.
Negotiate fee structure for manage care contracts on acute and rehabilitation facilities.
Research medical coding ICD-9, ICD-10, HCPCS and CPT-4 to let client know the outcome of medical claim.

Physician specialist vs reimbursement specialist skills

Common physician specialist skills

Patients, 39%
Patient Care, 23%
Surgery, 18%
Internal Medicine, 3%
Excellent Interpersonal, 2%
Patient Registration, 2%

Common reimbursement specialist skills

Patients, 20%
Customer Service, 9%
Appeals, 6%
CPT, 5%
Medicare, 4%
Medicaid, 4%

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Physician Specialist
Physician Specialist vs Reimbursement Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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