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The differences between provider relations specialists and customer relations specialists 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 specialist and a customer relations specialist. Additionally, a provider relations specialist has an average salary of $44,403, which is higher than the $37,827 average annual salary of a customer relations specialist.
The top three skills for a provider relations specialist include provider relations, medicaid and health plan. The most important skills for a customer relations specialist are customer relations, data entry, and work ethic.
| Provider Relations Specialist | Customer Relations Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $44,403 | $37,827 |
| Hourly rate | $21.35 | $18.19 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 70,700 | 215,862 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| 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 relations specialist is responsible for providing high-quality services for customers by responding to their inquiries and concerns and resolving complaints about the company's goods and services. Customer relations specialists update customer accounts on the database, recording their transactions accurately, and posting their payments timely. They may also sell new products and services to the clients, demonstrating features and usability, processing orders, and confirming delivery details. A customer relations specialist must have excellent communication and organizational skills to ensure customer satisfaction and maintain healthy business relationships with the customers.
Provider relations specialists and customer relations specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Provider Relations Specialist | Customer Relations Specialist | |
| Average salary | $44,403 | $37,827 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $65,000 | Between $27,000 And $52,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Columbia, MD |
| Highest paying state | - | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | - | Deloitte |
| Best paying industry | - | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a provider relations specialist and a customer relations specialist in terms of educational background:
| Provider Relations Specialist | Customer Relations Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between provider relations specialists' and customer relations specialists' demographics:
| Provider Relations Specialist | Customer Relations Specialist | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 22.0% Female, 78.0% | Male, 31.8% Female, 68.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% Asian, 7.3% White, 53.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.5% Asian, 7.5% White, 55.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |