Practice coordinator vs patient coordinator

The differences between practice coordinators and patient coordinators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a practice coordinator, becoming a patient coordinator takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a practice coordinator has an average salary of $46,591, which is higher than the $32,954 average annual salary of a patient coordinator.

The top three skills for a practice coordinator include patients, customer service and patient care. The most important skills for a patient coordinator are patients, customer service, and patient care.

Practice coordinator vs patient coordinator overview

	Practice Coordinator	Patient Coordinator
Yearly salary	$46,591	$32,954
Hourly rate	$22.40	$15.84
Growth rate	-8%	-4%
Number of jobs	78,398	97,878
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age	49	40
Years of experience	2	4

What does a practice coordinator do?

A practice coordinator is in charge of overseeing the daily operations at clinics and medical offices, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently while enforcing the hospital's policies and regulations. They mostly have administrative duties such as developing strategies to improve clinic and staff operations, handling calls and correspondence, liaising with key clients and suppliers, supervising budgets and timelines, establishing guidelines, and monitoring the progress of all procedures, resolving issues should there be any. They must also gather and analyze current programs, implementing solutions against problem areas.

What does a patient coordinator do?

A patient coordinator functions as the primary point of contact between health care professionals and patients in a medical facility. They mostly perform administrative tasks such as greeting visitors, answering calls, responding to inquiries, managing schedules, arranging appointments, processing payments, gathering information, and keeping records. Moreover, they assist in filling out forms, escorting patients to different rooms or offices, and setting treatment plans. Most importantly, they discuss and share necessary information with patients and families regarding medications, procedures, and proceeding care according to a physician's assessment.

Practice coordinator vs patient coordinator salary

Practice coordinators and patient coordinators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Practice Coordinator	Patient Coordinator
Average salary	$46,591	$32,954
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $70,000	Between $25,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Brockton, MA
Highest paying state	Washington	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Venable	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Media	Health Care

Differences between practice coordinator and patient coordinator education

There are a few differences between a practice coordinator and a patient coordinator in terms of educational background:

	Practice Coordinator	Patient Coordinator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	University of Pennsylvania

Practice coordinator vs patient coordinator demographics

Here are the differences between practice coordinators' and patient coordinators' demographics:

	Practice Coordinator	Patient Coordinator
Average age	49	40
Gender ratio	Male, 13.5% Female, 86.5%	Male, 11.2% Female, 88.8%
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, 11.1% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 25.4% Asian, 6.2% White, 51.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	7%

Differences between practice coordinator and patient coordinator duties and responsibilities

Practice coordinator example responsibilities.

Manage inpatient transfers to rehabilitation and medical facilities, along with preparing and monitoring outpatient billings insurance verification and referrals.
Verify and update all insurance and HIPAA forms and information as needed.
Perform blood glucose and PTINR testing, EKG's, and injections.
Schedule new patient, follow-up and surgical center appointments using EMR scheduling software.
Prepare medical records and documentation for patient visits, including loading of information into the EMR system.
Implement and ensure compliance with laws and regulations that affects the clinic (HIPAA, OSHA, and CLIA).

Patient coordinator example responsibilities.

Comply with HIPAA regulations by discreetly and professionally handling all patients private medical information.
Gather personal plus insurance information and perform thorough insurance breakdowns for patients.
Communicate directly with patients to obtain initial patient information and respond to inquiries.
Process and update HIPAA relate paperwork and other require institutional forms as necessary.
Obtain all necessary documentation prior to surgery such as proof of identification, copy of insurance and require insurance referrals.
Respond in writing to all grievances in accordance with CMS and DNV guidelines.

Practice coordinator vs patient coordinator skills

Common practice coordinator skills

Patients, 21%
Customer Service, 14%
Patient Care, 7%
Front Desk, 5%
Insurance Verification, 4%
Excellent Organizational, 4%

Common patient coordinator skills

Patients, 30%
Customer Service, 11%
Patient Care, 6%
Patient Flow, 5%
Excellent Organizational, 4%
Check-In, 3%

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Practice Coordinator
Practice Coordinator vs Patient Coordinator

Updated January 8, 2025

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