Post job

Referral specialist vs billing specialist

The differences between referral specialists and billing specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a referral specialist and a billing specialist. Additionally, a referral specialist has an average salary of $36,143, which is higher than the $35,624 average annual salary of a billing specialist.

The top three skills for a referral specialist include patients, customer service and medical terminology. The most important skills for a billing specialist are patients, customer service, and data entry.

Referral specialist vs billing specialist overview

Referral SpecialistBilling Specialist
Yearly salary$36,143$35,624
Hourly rate$17.38$17.13
Growth rate-8%-3%
Number of jobs72,01655,205
Job satisfaction4-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 44%Bachelor's Degree, 31%
Average age4946
Years of experience22

What does a referral specialist do?

Referral specialists are responsible for ensuring patients are already cleared for specialty service office visits. They resolve registration, pre-certification, and case-related affairs before the client's appointment. Also, they give support to clinical staff to manage the administrative components of clinical referrals for many services. They must gather relevant information from financial counselors, insurance carriers, and other supplementary staff to make sure the patient's financial responsibility for services are provided. Additionally, they act as a liaison between the patients, physicians, hospitals, health insurance vendors, or other referral sources.

What does a billing specialist do?

Billing specialists are accounting or finance employees who are responsible for sending out billing invoices to clients. They calculate charges that their clients have incurred. They then write bills, ensure that all details are correct, and send these out to clients. They also manage payment due dates and ensure that clients are duly reminded of such deadlines. Billing specialists also manage client accounts and ensure that they are paying on time. They help identify clients who have outstanding payables and send out collection notices to them. At times, billing specialists also manage the receipt of payments to manage account records better.

Referral specialist vs billing specialist salary

Referral specialists and billing specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Referral SpecialistBilling Specialist
Average salary$36,143$35,624
Salary rangeBetween $29,000 And $43,000Between $27,000 And $45,000
Highest paying CityWashington, DCWashington, DC
Highest paying stateConnecticutDelaware
Best paying companyCognizantTIBCO Software
Best paying industryNon ProfitsManufacturing

Differences between referral specialist and billing specialist education

There are a few differences between a referral specialist and a billing specialist in terms of educational background:

Referral SpecialistBilling Specialist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 44%Bachelor's Degree, 31%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common college-University of Pennsylvania

Referral specialist vs billing specialist demographics

Here are the differences between referral specialists' and billing specialists' demographics:

Referral SpecialistBilling Specialist
Average age4946
Gender ratioMale, 15.3% Female, 84.7%Male, 12.7% Female, 87.3%
Race ratioBlack 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, 10.9% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 19.2% Asian, 7.4% White, 57.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage9%7%

Differences between referral specialist and billing specialist duties and responsibilities

Referral specialist example responsibilities.

  • Manage assignments of paying medical bills limit in depth that include organizing and researching regulations as pertain to veterans eligibility.
  • Interview patients, evaluate eligibility, collect co-pays, deductibles, including, but not limit to insurance verification.
  • Input HIPAA information, call physician offices to verify testing, collect copay's and deductibles.
  • Arrange for debt repayments or establish repayment schedules and send out insurance claims with the correct ICD-9 and CPT codes.
  • Research referrals and either deny or approve based on information obtain and appropriately identify diagnosis (CPT and ICD-9 coding).
  • Maintain confidentiality by following all applicable HIPAA regulations.
  • Show more

Billing specialist example responsibilities.

  • Use of QuickBooks to manage vendors' accounts, set up filing system to maintain files and supporting billing documents.
  • Manage the daily correspondence with keeping doctor/patient confidentiality under consideration along with HIPPA regulations.
  • Use independent judgment, manage and impart confidential information appropriately per HIPAA regulations and company requirements.
  • Accept and process healthcare claims and confidential medical records; verify patient eligibility and manage the Medicare and Medicaid billing process.
  • Provide additional information/clarification for insurance claims using knowledge of CPT, ICD-9, and HCPCS codes, as well as modifiers.
  • Assist staff with proper billing for patients, ensure proper coding using ICD-10, ICD-9 and CPT-4 coding.
  • Show more

Referral specialist vs billing specialist skills

Common referral specialist skills
  • Patients, 17%
  • Customer Service, 12%
  • Medical Terminology, 9%
  • PET, 6%
  • Patient Care, 3%
  • Data Entry, 3%
Common billing specialist skills
  • Patients, 16%
  • Customer Service, 10%
  • Data Entry, 9%
  • Medical Billing, 7%
  • Medicaid, 6%
  • CPT, 3%

Browse office and administrative jobs