What does a registrar do?
A registrar's role is to process and maintain accurate records within an institution or establishment. They are the main point of communication to obtain various kinds of information. In schools, a registrar is in charge of keeping a student or educator's academic, personal, and financial records. They also have the task of arranging a student's course and class schedules. Furthermore, a registrar may also have other administrative tasks such as responding to calls and other forms of correspondence, producing reports, and process requirements.
Registrar responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real registrar resumes:
- Manage and prioritize a high volume of traumas and ambulances entering the ER.
- Provide superior customer-orient support and manage non-cooperative patients such as those with addictions problems with tact and ease.
- Code all inpatient, outpatient, emergency room, laboratory and radiology visits with appropriate ICD-9 and CPT codes.
- Transport patients to and from rehabilitation unit.
- Coordinate all radiology authorizations from physicians and insurance companies, adhering to appropriate CPT codes.
- Admit patients to various outpatient departments of the hospital; including emergency, laboratory and radiology.
- Interview patients to obtain complete demographic and financial information and signatures for admittance and outpatient testing and surgery.
- Protect patients' rights by maintaining confidentiality of personal and financial information to comply with HIPAA and other governmental guidelines.
- Register patients in stressful situations, such as trauma alerts and ambulances.
- Show compassion, remain calm, all while staying inside a professional boundary.
- Verify insurance, call insurance to see if patients need authorization for MRI's or cat scans.
- Prepare for and participate and assist ACS nurse reviewer with navigation through the various EMR systems during the ACS consultative visit.
- Interview patients, collect patient information, load insurance, icd-9 coding, provide information about health insurance, discharge paperwork.
- Adhere to all state and federal regulations such as EMTALA and HIPPA requirements and appropriately collect co-payments and deductibles from patients.
- Administer patient placement for all work and rehabilitation processes.
Registrar skills and personality traits
We calculated that 30% of Registrars are proficient in Patients, Customer Service, and Medical Terminology. They’re also known for soft skills such as Computer skills, Problem-solving skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Registrars that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 30%
Provided superior customer-oriented support and managed non-cooperative patients such as those with addictions problems with tact and ease.
- Customer Service, 16%
Provided timely and courteous customer service and resolution of customer complaints to maintain client relationship and ensure satisfaction of services.
- Medical Terminology, 7%
Maintain a working knowledge of medical terminology exercised to record and interpret patient s information.
- Patient Registration, 4%
Job tasks and responsibilities include timely and accurate patient registration, patient interviews for all pertinent account information and insurance verification.
- Data Entry, 3%
Greet incoming patients, distribute paperwork, perform data entry of pertinent information including insurance and demographic, and processed insurance.
- Patient Care, 3%
Interview patients effectively and courteously, entering all registration and insurance data accurately and completely to ensure quality of patient care.
Common skills that a registrar uses to do their job include "patients," "customer service," and "medical terminology." You can find details on the most important registrar responsibilities below.
Computer skills. The most essential soft skill for a registrar to carry out their responsibilities is computer skills. This skill is important for the role because "postsecondary education administrators need to be comfortable working with computers so they can use software to manage student and school records." Additionally, a registrar resume shows how their duties depend on computer skills: "documented outpatient and emergency admissions by inputting data into computer explained hospital policies, financial responsibilities and patient rights. "
Problem-solving skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling registrar duties is problem-solving skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "administrators need to react calmly when a difficult situation arises and develop creative solutions." According to a registrar resume, here's how registrars can utilize problem-solving skills in their job responsibilities: "develop close working relationship with patient accounting and other departments to ensure best practice revenue cycle solutions are consistently maintained"
Organizational skills. This is an important skill for registrars to perform their duties. For an example of how registrar responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "administrators need to be organized so they can manage records, prioritize tasks, and coordinate activities with their staff." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a registrar: "prepare patient charts per organizational protocols. ".
Interpersonal skills. For certain registrar responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "interpersonal skills." The day-to-day duties of a registrar rely on this skill, as "postsecondary education administrators need to build good relationships with colleagues, students, and parents." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what registrars do: "provide interpersonal client based customer service to every patient. "
The three companies that hire the most registrars are:
- Hca Hospital Services Of San Diego
139 registrars jobs
- HealthTrust108 registrars jobs
- Community Health Systems85 registrars jobs
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Compare different registrars
Registrar vs. Patient access representative
A Patient Access Representative is the first point of contact of a patient in a hospital facility. Among the duties include the checking-in and out of a patient, gathering a patient's information for the Doctors and Nurses to use, communicates with the patient's family or caregivers, and processes insurance billing. Most of the time, A Patient Access Representative encounters the critically ill or injured which is why one must possess great communication skills and compassion.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between registrars and patient access representative. For instance, registrar responsibilities require skills such as "office equipment," "ferpa," "emr," and "insurance billing." Whereas a patient access representative is skilled in "physician orders," "health insurance," "cycle management," and "patient liability." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Patient access representatives earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $33,319. On the other hand, registrars are paid more in the health care industry with an average salary of $36,641.The education levels that patient access representatives earn slightly differ from registrars. In particular, patient access representatives are 3.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a registrar. Additionally, they're 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Registrar vs. Admitting clerk
The job of an admitting clerk is to register and admit patients to a hospital. Admitting clerks interview patients in getting the necessary financial and medical information for the admission. They verify the insurance of patients and make sure that their registration forms are accurately signed. Usually, they work on the medical profession and hospital front lines. They welcome and face customers and need to understand medicine. Also, they are expected to manage doctors, nurses, patients, and hospital policies.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real registrar resumes. While registrar responsibilities can utilize skills like "emergency room," "office equipment," "strong customer service," and "patient insurance," admitting clerks use skills like "phone calls," "patient service," "patient demographics," and "hospital regulations."
In general, admitting clerks achieve lower levels of education than registrars. They're 5.8% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Registrar vs. Director of admissions
The admissions director is responsible for evaluating admission applications in an educational institution setting. Admissions directors monitor the admission process, develop admission procedures and reasonable criteria, and recruit potential students by determining their eligibility and educational objectives. They also assist with handling marketing and promotional campaigns about academic programs, conduct career seminars through school visits, and managing registration paperwork, such as scholarship grants, financial aid applications, and other admission requirements. The admissions director must have excellent communication and leadership skills, responding to the students' inquiries and concerns, as well as overseeing the admissions staff's operations.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, registrars are more likely to have skills like "medical terminology," "patient registration," "data entry," and "patient care." But a director of admissions is more likely to have skills like "admissions process," "facility tours," "rehabilitation," and "customer satisfaction."
Directors of admissions make a very good living in the education industry with an average annual salary of $57,091. On the other hand, registrars are paid the highest salary in the health care industry, with average annual pay of $36,641.Most directors of admissions achieve a higher degree level compared to registrars. For example, they're 9.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Registrar vs. Department chairperson
A Department Chairperson is a faculty member who provides academic and administrative leadership to an academic department. They exercise leadership in recruiting and retaining capable faculty, communicate departmental needs and desires to the Dean and Provost, and coordinate the academic advisement process.
Types of registrar
Updated January 8, 2025
