Surgery scheduler vs patient service specialist

The differences between surgery schedulers and patient service specialists 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 service specialist takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a surgery scheduler has an average salary of $34,472, which is higher than the $33,563 average annual salary of a patient service specialist.

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

Surgery scheduler vs patient service specialist overview

	Surgery Scheduler	Patient Service Specialist
Yearly salary	$34,472	$33,563
Hourly rate	$16.57	$16.14
Growth rate	-8%	-4%
Number of jobs	56,058	105,915
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 26%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
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 service specialist do?

A patient service representative serves as a patient's primary point of contact in a hospital or clinic, ensuring accuracy and customer satisfaction. They are mainly responsible for gathering a patient's information and medical history, verifying insurance forms, managing accounts, and processing payments, arranging appointments, and even performing reminder calls and correspondence. There are also instances when a patient service representative must discuss situations to patients and their families, and even alert the doctors when a patient displays strange or unlikely behavior.

Surgery scheduler vs patient service specialist salary

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

	Surgery Scheduler	Patient Service Specialist
Average salary	$34,472	$33,563
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $43,000	Between $27,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	Danbury, CT	Springfield, MA
Highest paying state	Connecticut	Massachusetts
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Virginia Eye Institute
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between surgery scheduler and patient service specialist education

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

	Surgery Scheduler	Patient Service Specialist
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 26%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	-	University of Pennsylvania

Surgery scheduler vs patient service specialist demographics

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

	Surgery Scheduler	Patient Service Specialist
Average age	49	40
Gender ratio	Male, 6.5% Female, 93.5%	Male, 12.5% Female, 87.5%
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, 12.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.9% Asian, 6.4% White, 54.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	9%	7%

Differences between surgery scheduler and patient service specialist 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.

Patient service specialist example responsibilities.

Benefit coverage eligibility or concerns for patients will be complete timely to achieve identify outcomes or solutions.
Greet patients and visitors with warmth, compassion, and demonstrate commitment to exceptional service.
Provide customer service to patients via registration, co-pay and co-insurance payment collection, appointment scheduling and telephone service
Obtain patient demographic, billing, insurance, and other necessary intake information for patients seeking rehabilitation services.
Screen, triage, register and verify a high volume of client eligibility and demographic data.
Direct callers to appropriate personnel, and initiate a triage slip for response by medical personnel.

Surgery scheduler vs patient service specialist skills

Common surgery scheduler skills

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

Common patient service specialist skills

Patients, 20%
Patient Service, 9%
Physical Therapy, 8%
Rehabilitation, 8%
Patient Appointments, 8%
Front Desk, 7%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Surgery Scheduler
Surgery Scheduler vs Patient Service Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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