Senior patient account representative vs collections specialist

The differences between senior patient account representatives and collections specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a senior patient account representative and a collections specialist. Additionally, a senior patient account representative has an average salary of $57,603, which is higher than the $35,164 average annual salary of a collections specialist.

The top three skills for a senior patient account representative include patients, CPT and data entry. The most important skills for a collections specialist are customer service, patients, and customer accounts.

Senior patient account representative vs collections specialist overview

	Senior Patient Account Representative	Collections Specialist
Yearly salary	$57,603	$35,164
Hourly rate	$27.69	$16.91
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	126,399	40,277
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	12	12

What does a senior patient account representative do?

A senior patient account representative typically works at a hospital, clinic, or other medical facility. They handle matters concerning medical insurance claims and patient billing. Their duties include collecting and processing payments, arranging billing and payment plans, coordinating with insurance providers, verifying patient information, and maintaining accurate records. They also directly assist patients by answering inquiries, explaining payment arrangements and other details, keeping an open communication line with patients and insurance providers, and settling refunds. They also supervise junior patient account representatives.

What does a collections specialist do?

As their name entails, collections specialists collect payments for the outstanding accounts receivables. Collections specialists list the names of those who were unable to pay their overdue bills based on their delinquency severity. They locate the customers through loan documents, background checks, credit bureau information, and other databases or paperwork. These specialists are expected to be excellent in their negotiation and communication skills. They should also be trustworthy, reliable, and act professionally to be considered as good specialists.

Senior patient account representative vs collections specialist salary

Senior patient account representatives and collections specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Patient Account Representative	Collections Specialist
Average salary	$57,603	$35,164
Salary range	Between $32,000 And $101,000	Between $27,000 And $45,000
Highest paying City	-	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	-	Connecticut
Best paying company	-	Kent Daniels & Associates
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between senior patient account representative and collections specialist education

There are a few differences between a senior patient account representative and a collections specialist in terms of educational background:

	Senior Patient Account Representative	Collections Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Senior patient account representative vs collections specialist demographics

Here are the differences between senior patient account representatives' and collections specialists' demographics:

	Senior Patient Account Representative	Collections Specialist
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 11.6% Female, 88.4%	Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 14.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 3.6% White, 59.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.5% Asian, 3.7% White, 61.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between senior patient account representative and collections specialist duties and responsibilities

Senior patient account representative example responsibilities.

Manage Facebook and patient communication programs.
Review physician's documentation to ensure correct CPT codes and ICD-9 codes are billed correctly for services render.
Use online referral system to obtain authorization for treatment for a specialist office using ICD-9 and CPT codes.
Train new staff in billing and follow-up of Medicaid HMO plans including both the hospital and electronic billing system.
Provide reports and information to various clients; comply with HIPAA regulations.
Input ICD-9 codes and HCPC to help with calculating cost for each patient.

Collections specialist example responsibilities.

Manage university A/R processes and enforce tuition payment policy.
Manage accounts for healthcare clients, review detailed patient information for payment resolution while abiding HIPPA privacy and security regulations.
Review denied Medicare and Maine Medicaid insurance claims for accuracy.
Analyze hospital insurance claims of individual patients for errors and contact major insurance carriers for claims dispute resolution.
Analyze accounts for patients ineligible for private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid and indicating inability to pay balance.
Possess effective persuasion and negotiation skills, excellent interpersonal and communications skills with the ability to deliver quality customer service.

Senior patient account representative vs collections specialist skills

Common senior patient account representative skills

Patients, 20%
CPT, 9%
Data Entry, 8%
Medical Terminology, 6%
Medicaid, 6%
Appeals, 5%

Common collections specialist skills

Customer Service, 23%
Patients, 8%
Customer Accounts, 6%
Payment Arrangements, 5%
Delinquent Accounts, 4%
Phone Calls, 4%

Senior Patient Account Representative vs. similar jobs

Senior Patient Account Representative related careers

Senior Patient Account Representative related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Office and Administrative Industry
Senior Patient Account Representative
Senior Patient Account Representative vs Collections Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse office and administrative jobs