Registration clerk vs patient registrar

The differences between registration clerks and patient registrars can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a registration clerk, becoming a patient registrar takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a patient registrar has an average salary of $33,494, which is higher than the $30,061 average annual salary of a registration clerk.

The top three skills for a registration clerk include patients, medical terminology and customer service. The most important skills for a patient registrar are patients, customer service, and medical terminology.

Registration clerk vs patient registrar overview

	Registration Clerk	Patient Registrar
Yearly salary	$30,061	$33,494
Hourly rate	$14.45	$16.10
Growth rate	-	-4%
Number of jobs	123,390	86,721
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 28%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
Average age	42	40
Years of experience	2	4

What does a registration clerk do?

A registration clerk is responsible for performing administrative and clerical tasks for patients' admission in a health care setting. Registration clerks assist patients with filling out hospital forms, verifying their medical histories, and confirming their insurance details. They also respond to the patients' inquiries and concerns, as well as directing them to the appropriate facility for their medical needs. A registration clerk must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially on managing appointments and ensuring that the patients receive the highest quality of health care.

What does a patient registrar do?

A patient registrar is responsible for receiving patients in a hospital or other health care institutions, verifying their information, and leading them to the appropriate facility for their health care needs. Patient registrars manage the hospital's database, updating patients' information, confirming insurance details, taking calls, responding to patients' inquiries and concerns, scheduling appointments, and performing related administrative and clerical tasks as needed. A patient registrar must have excellent communication and organizational skills to provide the best quality care services to the patients.

Registration clerk vs patient registrar salary

Registration clerks and patient registrars have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Registration Clerk	Patient Registrar
Average salary	$30,061	$33,494
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $39,000	Between $26,000 And $42,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	California	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Hancock Wellness	Guidehouse
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between registration clerk and patient registrar education

There are a few differences between a registration clerk and a patient registrar in terms of educational background:

	Registration Clerk	Patient Registrar
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 28%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Registration clerk vs patient registrar demographics

Here are the differences between registration clerks' and patient registrars' demographics:

	Registration Clerk	Patient Registrar
Average age	42	40
Gender ratio	Male, 11.8% Female, 88.2%	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 21.7% Asian, 4.4% White, 55.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 23.0% Asian, 6.4% White, 53.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	7%

Differences between registration clerk and patient registrar duties and responsibilities

Registration clerk example responsibilities.

Use EMR software to manage patient records and files, reinforce and uphold patient confidentiality as required by HIPAA and clinic.
Perform EKG for cardiac patients.
Verify eligibility for Medicaid patients register through insurance websites.
Conduct initial intake interview and register patients for hospital procedures and day surgery.
Register patients, including radiology inpatient and outpatient for medical services accordance of insurance guidelines.
Procure past EKG and additional information as per physicians request from ALTHA.

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Patient registrar example responsibilities.

Process release of information requests according to HIPAA regulations and manage valuables safe for entire facility.
Specialize in high degree of compassion when communicating with patients providing information and insurance details.
Receive patients, record patient demographic information and verify insurance for emergency department, laboratory, and radiology
Register patients and ensure correctness of all demographic information in AS400, verify insurance on various websites and collect patient co-payments.
Update demographics, billing information, Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance during patient interviews to obtain pertinent registration information.
Enter confidential personal health information and financial information into IDX system with a high rate of accuracy and confidentiality.

Registration clerk vs patient registrar skills

Common registration clerk skills

Patients, 40%
Medical Terminology, 5%
Customer Service, 5%
Patient Registration, 3%
Computer System, 3%
Insurance Verification, 3%

Common patient registrar skills

Patients, 25%
Customer Service, 11%
Medical Terminology, 11%
Patient Registration, 4%
Patient Care, 4%
Insurance Verification, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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