Clinic Manager: What is the cost of hiring?

What is a clinical manager?

A clinical manager is a healthcare leader responsible for overseeing patient care delivery, managing clinical staff and ensuring compliance with healthcare regulations. They play a critical role in optimizing team performance, maintaining high standards of care and supporting the organization’s strategic objectives.

Why hire a clinical manager?

A clinical manager drives high-quality patient care, ensures regulatory compliance and streamlines clinical team operations, directly benefiting organizational reputation and efficiency. Companies may consider hiring for this role when expanding healthcare services, facing increased regulatory demands or seeking improved team performance and patient outcomes.

Contributions of a great clinical manager:

• implements evidence-based practices to elevate patient care quality and safety
• fosters collaborative team environments that empower staff and enhance clinical outcomes
• navigates complex healthcare regulations to ensure compliance and mitigate organizational risk

Defining your hiring needs for a clinical manager

To define hiring needs for a clinical manager, start by assessing the size and complexity of your healthcare operations and identifying gaps in patient care or regulatory compliance. Establish a budget for the role, select an appropriate job title (clinical manager, clinical supervisor, etc.) and determine whether the position should be full-time, part-time or freelance based on organizational demands. If there is confusion with related roles such as practice manager or nurse manager, review job descriptions to clarify distinctions and ensure the right fit for your team.

What are the types of clinical managers?

When writing your clinical manager job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on clinical manager jobs, according to Indeed data:

• clinic manager
• manager
• healthcare
• administrative
• medical office administration
• healthcare management
• medical office manager
• clinical manager
• nurse manager

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Where to find a clinical manager?

To find the right clinical manager for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Job boards: Leading healthcare job boards such as HealthCareCAN and Job Bank regularly post clinical manager vacancies.
• Networking: Professional associations like the Canadian College of Health Leaders and provincial nursing organizations (e.g. Ontario Nurses’ Association, BC Nurses’ Union) maintain job listings and connect candidates through networking events and annual conferences.
• Industry events: Attend industry events, such as the National Healthcare Leadership Conference or regional health fairs, to meet candidates with relevant expertise.
• Distribute flyers: Posting flyers at universities, healthcare facilities and trade association offices also reaches qualified applicants.
• Post your job online: Try posting your clinical manager job on Indeed to find and attract quality clinical manager candidates.

Skills to look for in a clinical manager

A successful clinical manager candidate will typically have the following skills and competencies, which may be gained through a variety of experiences, training or education:

• healthcare regulatory expertise
• clinical quality improvement
• staff leadership and team development skills
• expertise in managing clinical schedules
• clinical data interpretation and reporting
• demonstrated competence in leading responses to clinical incidents or emergencies while adhering to protocols

Writing a clinical manager job description

Now that you know the key skills, salary expectations, popular job-seeker search terms and hiring insights for a clinical manager, you’re ready to write a job description.

A clinical manager job description typically includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position. You may also want to include information about your company culture, benefits and perks to attract candidates to your open role.

Ready to get started? See our full guide for writing clinical manager job descriptions.

Interviewing clinical manager candidates

Strong candidates for clinical manager positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• healthcare regulatory compliance and accreditation processes
• leading quality improvement initiatives in clinical environments
• team leadership, staff development and conflict resolution
• resource management and operational efficiency
• crisis and incident management in healthcare settings

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of clinical manager interview questions for examples (with sample answers).