Clinical Liaison Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a clinical liaison. You can use our job description template in this article to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a clinical liaison.
Who is Clinical Liaison?
Clinical liaisons are medical experts who act as a link between an organization’s clinical and administrative divisions. They help to ensure the medical staff, consisting of doctors, nurses, and therapists has everything needed to treat patients successfully.
Ensuring staff members wash their hands before treating patients or checking that medical equipment is kept hygienic and maintained are a few examples of their duties. They work together with patients, families, and medical staff to ensure that everyone is informed of the care plan and that all requirements are satisfied. They are an essential part of the medical team and greatly impact the treatment and well-being of the patients.
Clinical Liaison Job Description
Below are the clinical liaison job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of a clinical liaison include the following:
- Working with staff from other departments to ensure patient needs are met.
- Acting as a point of contact for patients, their families, and other medical staff members, such as physical therapists, nurses, and social workers.
- Caring clinically for patients with complex medical conditions while receiving hospital treatment under the direction of a different doctor.
- Updating insurance companies or other parties involved in the patient’s care on their progress.
- Scheduling visits and keeping an eye on patients to ensure effective treatment recovery.
- Examining alternative therapy approaches or techniques that might improve patient care.
- Educating family members of patients about their conditions and recommended treatments.
- Addressing inquiries regarding the hospital and its offerings.
- Ensuring the hospital and the referral source work together to coordinate patient admission.
- Taking part in community events and trade shows to promote the hospital services and keeping in touch with current and prospective referral sources.
- Notifying the proper supervisor of any worries regarding a referral source or patient.
- Following all laws and rules established at the state and federal levels that regulate the delivery of healthcare services.
- Monitoring competitors’ activities in the designated area and informing the director of the clinical liaison of findings.
- Performing any additional duties assigned to you, such as developing and delivering presentations to groups of potential clients or referral sources.
Qualifications of a Clinical Liaison
The qualifications of those in this career path include the following:
- A bachelor’s degree in nursing or a related field.
- A current clinical license and two or more years of experience in healthcare-related marketing.
- A valid driver’s license, as well as evidence of insurance.
- Expert knowledge of the Stark legislation.
- In-depth knowledge of computers.
- Outstanding interpersonal and communication abilities.
- A professional demeanor and exceptional organizing skills.
Essential Skills
Clinical liaisons must possess the skills listed below to succeed:
- Communication:
Clinical liaisons engage in a wide range of social interactions throughout their workday. They might communicate with patients, doctors, nurses, insurance representatives, patient families, and other hospital staff. For this, they must possess great verbal and written communication skills. They must also be able to talk clearly and simply to ensure everyone is understood.
- Integrity:
In many cases, doctors and patients only ever engage with clinical liaisons because they can build relationships based on integrity and trust. Thus, they greatly impact how the public perceives the industry you represent. Patients receive the finest care when firms are dependable and transparent in all of their transactions.
- Empathy:
Clinical liaisons frequently utilize empathy to communicate to patients the rationale for their treatment strategies. For instance, if a patient is concerned about a drug that could have negative side effects, a clinical liaison could utilize compassion to explain the reasoning behind a treatment plan. A clinical liaison with empathy may be able to explain the justification for the treatment plan and any benefits it may have.
- Problem Solving:
Clinical liaisons regularly work with many different departments to address patient issues. If there is a scheduling problem, a clinical liaison, for instance, might collaborate with the scheduling team to identify a new time for a patient to visit a doctor. Clinical liaisons also work with other departments to handle patient difficulties, including invoicing or insurance problems.
- Flexibility:
Adaptability is essential for success in this position, given how quickly the healthcare sector changes. Clinical liaisons must constantly alter their strategies in response to new scientific discoveries and regulatory changes. They may converse with pharmacists, nurses, professionals, and doctors on various levels.
- Organization:
Clinical liaisons usually oversee multiple projects at once. Thus, great organizational skills are essential. You can be in charge of scheduling appointments, updating patient records, and managing patient files. They need to be able to set priorities and use their time wisely.
- Time Management Skills:
Clinical liaisons usually have a range of tasks to attend to; thus, time management is essential. They can prioritize the most important activities and finish their work on schedule. For example, clinical liaisons may need to schedule visits, follow up with patients, and update medical records. They can use their time management skills to complete all their tasks promptly.
- Negotiation Skills:
Clinical liaisons could have to negotiate on behalf of patients with insurance providers or healthcare organizations. If you are good at negotiating, you will be able to come up with answers.
- The capacity to listen:
It takes more than just hearing what someone has to say to comprehend their message while also considering nonverbal indicators like body language and tone of voice. To build relationships with patients and communicate scientific information accurately, clinical liaisons can identify these signs. By honing listening abilities, they may deliver better customer service and help get new therapies for those needing them the most.
- Networking Skills:
Those in this career path use networking abilities to connect patients with facility centers. They might build a list of places to refer patients for extra care. They can increase their network connections and resources by utilizing efficient networking techniques.
- Marketing Skills:
You may aid a healthcare organization’s marketing efforts as a Clinical Liaison. You can employ great marketing abilities to advertise their products and provide information to various consumers.
- Customer Service Skills:
Clinical liaisons communicate with a range of patients and medical professionals. Strong customer service skills enable them to advocate particular treatments and resolve conflicts.
- Analytical abilities:
Clinical Liaisons need to be able to understand and assess data from clinical trials to develop initiatives that will improve patient outcomes. They work with physicians and other healthcare professionals to develop research projects and grant applications. Clinical liaisons with strong analytical skills can identify trends and patterns in the data they collect, which helps them develop more effective product promotion plans.
- Technical knowledge:
Before you can explain treatment plans and services to patients, clinical liaisons must thoroughly understand the practices and services provided by the facility. To succeed in their jobs in the healthcare sector, they need both strong technical skills and specialized medical knowledge.
- Research Skill:
Clinical Liaisons must be capable of teaching others and conducting research in their specialty. This could entail researching recent advancements in medicine, available treatments, or other topics that can assist patients in learning more about a range of themes. They use their research abilities when working with colleagues to discover solutions to issues in the healthcare system.
- Interpersonal Skills:
Clinical liaisons’ ability to perform everyday tasks might be helped by strong interpersonal or people skills. Using their interpersonal abilities, they can promote a facility, meet new people, and advertise their services.
- Project Management:
Clinical liaisons usually work with a team of medical specialists to develop and administer patient education initiatives. For this, you’ll need to have project management skills, including the capacity to delegate work, keep track of progress, and ensure deadlines are reached. A program’s many components may be completed on schedule with the help of strong project management skills, and patients can obtain the information they need to make informed treatment decisions.
How to Become a Clinical Liaison
To become a clinical Liaison, follow the steps below:
- Step 1: Earn your bachelor’s in business administration, health care administration, or a closely related field:
The first step toward joining this career path is obtaining an academic degree. A clinical liaison must possess a bachelor’s degree in business administration, health care management, or a related discipline. A Bachelor of Science in Health Care Administration is the most common degree for this job, but you can also get one with an emphasis in healthcare management if you want.
While obtaining your undergraduate degree, consider enrolling in courses that will help you expand your clinical liaison knowledge and skills. The coursework should cover finance, economics, marketing, leadership, organizational behavior, ethics, and communication topics.
- Step 2: Obtain medical work experience, particularly in a clinical setting.
It takes a lot of clinical expertise to be a clinical liaison since it helps you understand how a hospital performs its daily operations. Internships or entry-level positions at hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare organizations are two ways to get this experience.
If you can, try to work in as many hospital or clinic departments as possible. As a result, you will have a greater knowledge of how a healthcare organization functions overall.
- Step 3: Earn a second degree:
For many clinical liaison professions, further education or training is required. To do this, one may need to enroll in a master’s program or complete the requirements to become an RN or a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). This may vary based on the organization and the function.
- Step 4: Apply for a license:
Certification or licensure is required for many clinical liaison positions. This may vary according to the state and kind of facility. For many jobs, liaisons must register as RNs or LPNs, although certain facilities prefer or require a specific license. For example, some rehab centers prefer clinical liaisons who are licensed physical therapists (PT) or occupational therapists (OT).
- Step 5: Create a résumé and cover letter:
When submitting a CV for clinical liaison employment, it’s critical to emphasize your hard and soft skills. Clinical liaisons must possess excellent communication abilities, medical knowledge, expertise, and qualifications. A CV showcasing your professional experience and relevant talents can help you stand out among all clinical liaison job applicants.
- Step 6: Stay up to date on healthcare industry trends:
The healthcare industry is always changing, and as a result of this, clinical liaisons must keep up with innovations. For instance, new rules may impact hospitals’ operations, while new medical technologies may simplify certain processes.
Clinical liaisons must also be informed of any changes to patient care that might affect their organization. Clinical liaisons need to be aware of how patients are affected when treatment plans are changed, such as when a hospital introduces a new medication to the regimen.
- Step 7: Join professional organizations like the American College of Healthcare Executives:
The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) offers training and certification for healthcare executives. By becoming a member of ACHE, you can network with other industry professionals, which can be helpful when looking for job possibilities or getting advice on progressing your career.
Before you may enroll in ACHE as a certified clinical liaison, you must first become an associate member of the organization and complete the college’s clinical liaison certification program. This curriculum includes self-study materials, online classes, and a comprehensive exam.
Where to Work as a Clinical Liaison
Clinical Liaisons can work in places including hospitals, outpatient clinics, long-term care facilities, and home health agencies. Furthermore, Clinical Liaisons work at an acute rehabilitation hospital. While working at an acute rehabilitation hospital, they help patients complete their physical therapy treatments (ACR).
They may work irregular or on-call hours in addition to their regular full-time hours to satisfy the demands of their patients. Clinical liaisons may need to travel to meet with patients, families, or other medical professionals. They might also work with various medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, and social workers.
Clinical Liaison Salary Scale
An entry-level Clinical liaison with less than one year of experience earns an average annual salary of $67,994. In the first few years of employment, a Clinical Liaison earns an average salary of $70,030. On average, those experienced in this career path make $72,810 each year. The average salary for a clinical liaison with 10 to 19 years of experience is $74,255. In their late career (20 years and above), they are paid $85,458 yearly as salary.