Surgery scheduler vs patient registrar

The differences between surgery schedulers 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 surgery scheduler, becoming a patient registrar takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a surgery scheduler has an average salary of $34,472, which is higher than the $33,494 average annual salary of a patient registrar.

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

Surgery scheduler vs patient registrar overview

	Surgery Scheduler	Patient Registrar
Yearly salary	$34,472	$33,494
Hourly rate	$16.57	$16.10
Growth rate	-8%	-4%
Number of jobs	56,058	86,721
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 26%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
Average age	49	40
Years of experience	2	4

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 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.

Surgery scheduler vs patient registrar salary

Surgery schedulers and patient registrars have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Surgery Scheduler	Patient Registrar
Average salary	$34,472	$33,494
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $43,000	Between $26,000 And $42,000
Highest paying City	Danbury, CT	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	Connecticut	Massachusetts
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Guidehouse
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between surgery scheduler and patient registrar education

There are a few differences between a surgery scheduler and a patient registrar in terms of educational background:

	Surgery Scheduler	Patient Registrar
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 26%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	-	University of Pennsylvania

Surgery scheduler vs patient registrar demographics

Here are the differences between surgery schedulers' and patient registrars' demographics:

	Surgery Scheduler	Patient Registrar
Average age	49	40
Gender ratio	Male, 6.5% Female, 93.5%	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%
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, 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 surgery scheduler and patient registrar 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.

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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.

Surgery scheduler vs patient registrar skills

Common surgery scheduler skills

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

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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