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.
Registration clerk responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real registration clerk resumes:
- 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.
- Put in orders, consults, transfer patients to different rooms utilizing the Meditech system.
- Scan all reports, orders, demographics, consent forms, and lab results into ordering facilities EMR upon completion.
- Conduct business office duties as needed, maintaining a high level of confidentiality adhering to HIPAA policy, rules and regulations.
- Maintain confidentiality according to HIPAA guidelines.
- Maintain private patient information in accordance with HIPPA regulations.
- Determine eligibility for WIC benefits & temporary Medicaid cards.
- Obtain insurance authorizations and prepare requisitions for laboratory and radiology testing.
- Maintain confidentiality of all patient information as required by following HIPPA guidelines.
- Schedule surgery appointment and up and coming clinic appointment, obtain referrals and authorization.
Registration clerk skills and personality traits
We calculated that 40% of Registration Clerks are proficient in Patients, Medical Terminology, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Integrity, Communication skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Registration Clerks that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 40%
Verified insurance eligibility/benefits, obtained authorizations, requests and accurately documented patients financial responsibility.
- Medical Terminology, 5%
Perform secretarial duties, utilizing knowledge of medical terminology, hospital, clinic and laboratory procedures.
- Customer Service, 5%
Provided excellent customer service to all patients, efficiently assisted patients through clinic facilities with a positive and supportive attitude.
- Patient Registration, 3%
Perform Patient Registration Functions gathers demographic information required for admission to the Hospital and inputs information in the Hospital Information System.
- Computer System, 3%
Enhanced accuracy and productivity by merging files and computer systems between two separate medical groups to one integrated system.
- Insurance Verification, 3%
Applied patient payments towards visit co-pays and prior statements based on insurance verification and eligibility.
"patients," "medical terminology," and "customer service" are among the most common skills that registration clerks use at work. You can find even more registration clerk responsibilities below, including:
Integrity. One of the key soft skills for a registration clerk to have is integrity. You can see how this relates to what registration clerks do because "information clerks, particularly human resources assistants, have access to confidential information." Additionally, a registration clerk resume shows how registration clerks use integrity: "entrusted with data base that implements all patient personal information regarding insurances, illnesses and benefits and implement hippa standard regulations. "
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling registration clerk duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "information clerks must be able to explain policies and procedures clearly to customers and the public." According to a registration clerk resume, here's how registration clerks can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "have good communication skills and medical terminology. "
Organizational skills. This is an important skill for registration clerks to perform their duties. For an example of how registration clerk responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "information clerks must be able to retrieve files and other important information quickly and efficiently." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a registration clerk: "work in a fast paced, stressful environment while utilizing communication, organizational, and clerical skills with customer service. ".
Interpersonal skills. registration clerk responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "information clerks who work with the public and customers must understand and communicate information effectively to establish positive relationships." This resume example shows what registration clerks do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "registered all patients for all clinics using interpersonal skills and good customer service. "
The three companies that hire the most registration clerks are:
- LifePoint Health11 registration clerks jobs
- CareWell Urgent Care8 registration clerks jobs
- Trinity Health6 registration clerks jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable registration clerk resume templates
Build a professional registration clerk resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your registration clerk resume.
Compare different registration clerks
Registration clerk vs. Patient service representative
A Patient Service Representative is responsible for coordinating with patients, ensuring accuracy and satisfaction at all times. The duties of a Patient Service Representative revolves around greeting and responding to patients, offering assistance in documentation, gathering and maintaining their personal information, and even communicating with the family or guardian. They also have to collect payments and process insurance details, obtain medical history, and even keep the patients updated in various aspects. Aside from this, it is crucial for a Representative coordinate with supervisors or personnel in-charge at all times.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between registration clerks and patient service representative. For instance, registration clerk responsibilities require skills such as "insurance data entry," "surgery," "scheduling appointments," and "emr." Whereas a patient service representative is skilled in "excellent interpersonal," "check-in," "patient service," and "excellent organizational." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Patient service representatives really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $33,107. Comparatively, registration clerks tend to make the most money in the health care industry with an average salary of $30,926.The education levels that patient service representatives earn slightly differ from registration clerks. In particular, patient service representatives are 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a registration clerk. Additionally, they're 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Registration clerk 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 some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that registration clerk responsibilities requires skills like "insurance data entry," "scheduling appointments," "office equipment," and "emr." But a patient access representative might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "data entry," "cycle management," "compassion," and "patient liability."
Patient access representatives earn a higher average salary than registration clerks. But patient access representatives earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $33,319. Additionally, registration clerks earn the highest salaries in the health care with average pay of $30,926 annually.In general, patient access representatives achieve similar levels of education than registration clerks. They're 1.7% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Registration clerk vs. Patient service coordinator
Patient services coordinators act as a liaison between a healthcare organization and patients. Their primary job is to provide quality service to patients. Their duties and responsibilities include fielding telephone calls from patients, assessing patients' issues, and interacting with team members, medical personnel, and employees from other departments. Also, they are responsible for ensuring compliance with regulatory and hospital requirements and maintaining quality service. Patient services coordinators must also ensure to maintain their technical knowledge by participating in personal networks, attending educational workshops, and reviewing professional publications.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, registration clerks are more likely to have skills like "insurance data entry," "surgery," "scheduling appointments," and "patient appointments." But a patient service coordinator is more likely to have skills like "patient flow," "check-in," "patient service," and "home health."
Patient service coordinators earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $35,469. Registration clerks earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $30,926.When it comes to education, patient service coordinators tend to earn similar degree levels compared to registration clerks. In fact, they're 2.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Registration clerk vs. Patient representative
A patient representative is responsible for assisting the patients with their health care needs by identifying their medical concerns, assessing their medical history, and referring them to the appropriate physicians or other medical professionals for immediate treatments and further examinations. Patient representatives verify the patients' insurance information, guiding them on filling out medical forms, processing payments for medical services, and updating them for the release of medical results. A patient representative must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially when responding to patient's inquiries and concerns timely and accurately, and performing additional administrative and clerical tasks as needed.
Types of registration clerk
Updated January 8, 2025
