How To Become A Central Scheduler: What It Is and Career Path

What is a central scheduler and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A central scheduler typically works for a hospital or health care facility and is responsible for scheduling client appointments for such services as radiology, cardiology, respiratory therapy, or other medical procedures. These individuals work under a central scheduling supervisor, and in addition to making appointments for clients and patients, they are also responsible for handling patient referrals. They also track referrals, conduct discharge follow-up calls, and keep referral source information up to date with help from the marketing department.

Central schedulers communicate healthcare questions to clinical staff and are responsible for data entry, coding, finance, and patient information management. These individuals typically work in an office environment and must be comfortable with using computers, databases and managing client phone queries. Central schedulers are an integral part of the day-to-day operations of a health care facility and must be able to multi-task and possess strong communication, interpersonal and analytical skills. Most central schedulers should possess strong verbal and data-entry skills.

Although an advanced degree is not necessary to obtain a job in this field, individuals should possess sufficient skills to succeed in this area. Many central schedulers can make up to $28,000 per year in the US, but the job market is expected to decline 7% by 2028.

ScoreCentral SchedulerUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $32,993

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.2

Growth Rate -8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.37%

Asian 3.77%

Black or African American 9.57%

Hispanic or Latino 11.96%

Unknown 3.77%

White 70.56%

Gender

female 91.11%

male 8.89%

Age - 51

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 51

Stress Level

7.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

4.7

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

9.3

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a central scheduler

Explore central scheduler education requirements

Most common central scheduler degrees

Associate

28.6 %

Bachelor's

28.1 %

High School Diploma

19.9 %

Start to develop specific central scheduler skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	25.05%
Customer Service	11.41%
Medical Terminology	10.12%
Phone Calls	4.25%
Patient Demographics	3.57%

Complete relevant central scheduler training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New central schedulers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a central scheduler based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real central scheduler resumes.

Research central scheduler duties and responsibilities

Manage patient pre-op responsibilities, and generate all necessary paperwork.
Bill HMO's and commercial insurances.
Adjust medical providers' schedule templates within EMR software.
Check for correct CPt and ICD-10 matches to ensure correct billing.

Prepare your central scheduler resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your central scheduler resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a central scheduler resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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