Senior patient account representative vs collector

The differences between senior patient account representatives and collectors 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 collector. Additionally, a senior patient account representative has an average salary of $57,603, which is higher than the $34,872 average annual salary of a collector.

The top three skills for a senior patient account representative include patients, CPT and data entry. The most important skills for a collector are patients, customer service, and payment arrangements.

Senior patient account representative vs collector overview

	Senior Patient Account Representative	Collector
Yearly salary	$57,603	$34,872
Hourly rate	$27.69	$16.77
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	126,399	23,948
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 31%
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 collector do?

Collectors are responsible for monitoring and providing immediate actions for client accounts with overdue payments. Collectors must be able to contact clients through phone or e-mail. A collector's duty also includes negotiating on payment procedures and offering repayment plans and alternative payment solutions to free the debt. Collectors need to document any agreements made to the client, updating and verifying contact information, resolving account discrepancies and client complaints, and report escalated concerns to the management.

Senior patient account representative vs collector salary

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

	Senior Patient Account Representative	Collector
Average salary	$57,603	$34,872
Salary range	Between $32,000 And $101,000	Between $27,000 And $44,000
Highest paying City	-	Los Angeles, CA
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	Uline
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between senior patient account representative and collector education

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

	Senior Patient Account Representative	Collector
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 31%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Senior patient account representative vs collector demographics

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

	Senior Patient Account Representative	Collector
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 11.6% Female, 88.4%	Male, 36.0% Female, 64.0%
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, 12.1% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between senior patient account representative and collector 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.

Collector example responsibilities.

Manage patient focuse reports, collection modules, provider/facility A/R, collections, patient discharge letters.
Monitor all assign accounts by reviewing the client's aging, manage all potential bad debit, DSO, aging.
Prevent impeding loss and increasing profitability through negotiation and enforcement of schedule collection campaigns, consistently achieving high success standards.
Provide customer service via telephone and correspondence for patients and authorize representatives regarding outstanding patient accounts in accordance with facility protocol.
Verify and run eligibility on the following insurance, Medi-Cal, Medi-Cal HMO, Medicare, Medicare HMO.
Provide excellent customer service while following HIPPA confidentiality laws.

Senior patient account representative vs collector skills

Common senior patient account representative skills

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

Common collector skills

Patients, 14%
Customer Service, 10%
Payment Arrangements, 10%
Excellent Interpersonal, 9%
Delinquent Accounts, 8%
Student Loans, 5%

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 Collector

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse office and administrative jobs