Surgery scheduler vs front office coordinator

The differences between surgery schedulers and front office coordinators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a surgery scheduler and a front office coordinator. Additionally, a surgery scheduler has an average salary of $34,472, which is higher than the $32,844 average annual salary of a front office coordinator.

The top three skills for a surgery scheduler include patients, medical terminology and customer service. The most important skills for a front office coordinator are patients, customer service, and data entry.

Surgery scheduler vs front office coordinator overview

	Surgery Scheduler	Front Office Coordinator
Yearly salary	$34,472	$32,844
Hourly rate	$16.57	$15.79
Growth rate	-8%	-5%
Number of jobs	56,058	131,810
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 26%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Average age	49	47
Years of experience	2	2

What does a surgery scheduler do?

A surgery scheduler is responsible for organizing medical information, coordinating with doctors and other health professionals, and reaching out to patients to inform them of scheduled medical procedures and appointments. Surgery schedulers perform clerical and administrative duties, such as processing patients' payments, verifying insurance details, and updating their account information on the database. They also monitor the adequacy of inventory for medical operations and create purchase requests as needed. A surgery scheduler must have excellent communication skills, especially in responding to patients' inquiries and concerns and resolving complaints.

What does a front office coordinator do?

A front office coordinator is responsible for assisting clients with their inquiries and concerns and directing them to the appropriate department and personnel to immediately address their needs. Front office coordinators schedule appointments, verify visitors' identities by checking their credentials for security purposes, processing service payments, updating customers' data and visitation log on the database, and escalating high-level complaints. A front office coordinator also performs administrative and clerical tasks as needed, requiring them to have excellent time-management and organizational skills.

Surgery scheduler vs front office coordinator salary

Surgery schedulers and front office coordinators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Surgery Scheduler	Front Office Coordinator
Average salary	$34,472	$32,844
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $43,000	Between $25,000 And $42,000
Highest paying City	Danbury, CT	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Connecticut	Massachusetts
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between surgery scheduler and front office coordinator education

There are a few differences between a surgery scheduler and a front office coordinator in terms of educational background:

	Surgery Scheduler	Front Office Coordinator
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 26%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	-	University of Pennsylvania

Surgery scheduler vs front office coordinator demographics

Here are the differences between surgery schedulers' and front office coordinators' demographics:

	Surgery Scheduler	Front Office Coordinator
Average age	49	47
Gender ratio	Male, 6.5% Female, 93.5%	Male, 9.0% Female, 91.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 3.8% White, 70.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 24.1% Asian, 6.7% White, 53.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	9%	6%

Differences between surgery scheduler and front office coordinator duties and responsibilities

Surgery scheduler example responsibilities.

Manage medical records and patient information within HIPPA guidelines
Manage patient pre-op responsibilities, and generate all necessary paperwork.
Request financial screening services for patients with limit Medicaid packages, as well as the uninsured.
Provide patients with information that explain hospital admission policies, time of admission and HIPPA privacy guidelines.
Execute administrative tasks such as ordering supplies and working with CPT and DX codes relate to accurate patient billing.
Maintain HIPAA and confidentiality standards.

Front office coordinator example responsibilities.

Manage medical records and other patient information within HIPPA guidelines.
Manage facility procedures relate to insurance and billing and solve patients' queries regarding their insurance renewal and expiry.
Work in Kronos to enter miss punches or correct time for employees when payroll is due.
Apply proper ICD-9 and CPT coding to patient invoices and submit claims to insurance companies for proper reimbursement.
Monitor physician documentation in EHR versus fee ticket and verify that the correct ICD9 and CPT codes are being used.
Maintain confidentiality of patient privacy in compliance with HIPAA regulations.

Surgery scheduler vs front office coordinator skills

Common surgery scheduler skills

Patients, 26%
Medical Terminology, 10%
Customer Service, 9%
Patient Care, 5%
Surgical Procedures, 4%
Surgery Scheduling, 4%

Common front office coordinator skills

Patients, 27%
Customer Service, 11%
Data Entry, 5%
Front Desk, 4%
Insurance Verification, 4%
Patient Charts, 3%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Surgery Scheduler
Surgery Scheduler vs Front Office Coordinator

Updated January 8, 2025

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