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The differences between provider relations representatives and customer support representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a provider relations representative and a customer support representative. Additionally, a provider relations representative has an average salary of $40,957, which is higher than the $37,404 average annual salary of a customer support representative.
The top three skills for a provider relations representative include customer service, provider relations and medicaid. The most important skills for a customer support representative are technical support, windows, and customer inquiries.
| Provider Relations Representative | Customer Support Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $40,957 | $37,404 |
| Hourly rate | $19.69 | $17.98 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 203,893 | 243,140 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Provider relations specialists are professionals who work for insurance companies as the primary contact for health care providers such as clinics and hospitals. These specialists are required to provide answers about service contracts and billing procedures to health care providers. They must handle the documents of patients to ensure that proper paperwork has been filed for coverage while developing communications with providers about any policy changes. Provider relations specialists must also travel to different health care organizations to provide training to their staff on insurance policies and procedures.
A customer support representative is responsible for answering calls and correspondence, providing customer assistance in various technical issues, concerns, or difficulties. There are also instances when they must make calls to follow-up on the issues, or even sell products and services. Most of the time, a customer support representative has a certain quota to reach and works under a manager's supervision. Furthermore, it is essential to keep accurate records and report to managers or supervisors should there be any problems.
Provider relations representatives and customer support representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Provider Relations Representative | Customer Support Representative | |
| Average salary | $40,957 | $37,404 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $55,000 | Between $29,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Helena, MT | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Montana | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Parkland Hospital | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Finance |
There are a few differences between a provider relations representative and a customer support representative in terms of educational background:
| Provider Relations Representative | Customer Support Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between provider relations representatives' and customer support representatives' demographics:
| Provider Relations Representative | Customer Support Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.2% Female, 75.8% | Male, 47.0% Female, 53.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.1% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 21.8% Asian, 6.5% White, 53.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 7.3% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |