What Is a Clinical Manager?
Clinical managers are responsible for the management of services within a specific clinical area at a healthcare organization. Specific clinical areas can include physical therapy, surgery, nursing, or medical records.
These types of managers have specific duties related to the area they are overseeing such as administrative tasks, daily operations, activity coordination, evaluating personnel, writing reports, establishing budgets, and critiquing work quality. They are in charge of creating clinical policies, procedures, and objectives and implementing strategies to efficiently carry them out.
Clinical managers work closely with other health professionals like administrators, assistants, physicians, and other managers to coordinate activities within and outside of their department. They typically work in an office environment in healthcare facilities like private practices, hospitals, and clinics. Most work during regular business hours and may find themselves working evenings or weekends as well, as it is not uncommon for them to be on call in case of an emergency.
How to Become a Clinical Manager
Those interested in becoming clinical managers should earn at least a bachelor’s degree in health management and clinical assistance, health services administration, or medical office management. In these types of majors, students learn about health care industry as well as important aspects of running it like business procedures and management operations relevant to health services.
Common courses include health care administration, economics of healthcare, accounting and finance, healthcare ethics, human resources management, healthcare law, quality improvement, healthcare policy, medical terminology, medical quality management, and health information systems. Most clinical managers have practical experience or training in the specific clinical area they desire to work in, so completing a second degree, extra coursework, or an internship in that area can prove very valuable.
Strong candidates will have effective management and interpersonal skills as well as a solid knowledge of a specific clinical area. Many people start out in entry-level or assistant positions within health administration or clinical departments before advancing to supervisory and management positions.
Clinical Manager Career Outlook & Salary
The healthcare field is constantly growing and more and more qualified people will be needed to manage various aspects of it. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment of health managers is projected to increase by 16% within the next decade. This is due to a healthcare industry that is becoming larger and more diverse, and the need for qualified managers who can improve the quality of healthcare, make health services more efficient, control the rising costs of delivering healthcare, and keep up with new regulations and technology.
Hospitals are expected to offer the most number of management jobs, but employment growth is also expected in the offices of health practitioners, medical group practices, and healthcare management companies. While competition for jobs should be expected, clinical managers with a relevant educational background, strong business management skills, and practical work experience will have the best and most lucrative careers.
The Bureau reported that the median annual wages of these types of managers was $80,240 in May 2008.
