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The differences between quality improvement specialists and operations specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a quality improvement specialist has an average salary of $67,474, which is higher than the $54,752 average annual salary of an operations specialist.
The top three skills for a quality improvement specialist include performance improvement, quality improvement and data collection. The most important skills for an operations specialist are customer service, logistics, and basic math.
| Quality Improvement Specialist | Operations Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $67,474 | $54,752 |
| Hourly rate | $32.44 | $26.32 |
| Growth rate | 28% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 80,504 | 109,181 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A Quality Improvement Specialist in the healthcare system ensures all data and information from patients are correctly handled and coordinates care to the patient. It is the quality improvement specialist's job to ensure that patients get the quality care they needed by creating, developing, and implementing policies set in a medical facility to help patients. A quality improvement specialist must know how to use office-related computer programs, preferably have a degree in the health or medical field, and have good organizational skills.
An operations specialist is responsible for optimizing the business' daily operations, ensuring smooth process flow to provide the best services to clients. Operations specialists' duties include analyzing business procedures, identifying opportunities for business improvement, tracking the department's metrics and activities, providing assistance to colleagues, suggesting strategies for operations efficiency, and managing customer's inquiries and complaints. An operations specialist must be an excellent team player and detail-oriented, as well as proven time-management and decision-making skills to meet clients' needs and support the business' objectives.
Quality improvement specialists and operations specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Improvement Specialist | Operations Specialist | |
| Average salary | $67,474 | $54,752 |
| Salary range | Between $47,000 And $96,000 | Between $35,000 And $85,000 |
| Highest paying City | Santa Rosa, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | TechnipFMC | Coatue Management |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Government |
There are a few differences between a quality improvement specialist and an operations specialist in terms of educational background:
| Quality Improvement Specialist | Operations Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between quality improvement specialists' and operations specialists' demographics:
| Quality Improvement Specialist | Operations Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.8% Female, 75.2% | Male, 50.6% Female, 49.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |