Clinical Director: What is the cost of hiring?

What is a clinical director?

A clinical director oversees healthcare service operations, such as technology implementation or new clinical trials. These healthcare leaders may set clinical policies, coordinate with operational and administrative leadership like hospital administrators and direct cross-functional teams of clinicians, such as nurses and general practitioners (GPs). Clinical directors may also review performance metrics and lead improvement initiatives, such as offering telehealth, to enhance patient care standards. 

Why hire a clinical director?

Clinical directors help encourage a positive patient experience and compliance with healthcare regulations, such as the good clinical practice (GCP) principles, and organizational policies. These healthcare leaders typically set clinical priorities, monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and align practical care needs with administrative goals. They may also oversee the budget for randomized controlled trials (RCTs), including recruiting patients and a professional to clean collected data.

You may benefit from hiring a clinical director if your facility needs more oversight of clinical workflows, support for accreditation processes or improvement initiatives to support staff training and retention.

Key contributions of a great clinical director:

• Improve patient outcomes through data-backed decision-making
• Strengthen cross-functional collaboration and overall clinical staff performance
• Ensure compliance with industry and regulatory standards

Defining your hiring needs for clinical directors

When hiring a clinical director, consider your organization’s size and scope to determine whether a full-time role is necessary. Larger facilities or those with multiple clinical departments requiring daily oversight may need full-time clinical directors. Smaller organizations might successfully operate with a part-time clinical director or choose an interim hire for new programs or transitional leadership needs due to a merger or acquisition.

Related roles to consider include Medical Director, Nurse Manager and Hospital Administrator.

Types of clinical directors

Clinical directors may specialize based on the care provided in your location, patient populations or organizational structure. Types of clinical directors include:

• Behavioral health clinical directors: Manage clinical operations at mental health and addiction treatment programs, ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations and multidisciplinary teams of nurses, therapists and social workers.
• Nursing clinical directors: Focus on nursing operations, typically in hospitals and large clinics.
• Outpatient services clinical directors: Oversee operations in outpatient settings, such as urgent care centers or ambulatory surgical facilities and may also oversee doctors, nurses and medical technologists.
• Rehabilitation clinical directors: Lead teams of physical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists and other allied health professionals in rehab centers and outpatient clinics.
• Home health clinical directors: Oversee the delivery of nursing services in home-based settings.

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Where to find clinical directors

You might source clinical directors through healthcare recruiting firms, professional networks, hospital job boards and medical conferences.

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

• Using internal advancement: Consider whether nurses or others in your clinical team have the leadership skills and organizational knowledge for a clinical director position.
• Working with healthcare recruiters: Connect with specialized firms that have access to experienced candidates with clinical and administrative skills.
• Connecting with medical and nursing associates: Post your job listing via the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) or another relevant organization to attract clinicians interested in leadership roles.
• Attending healthcare leadership conferences: Participate in events covering topics like delivering quality patient care or operational excellence and network with professionals interested in these goals.
• Posting your job online: Try posting your clinical director job on Indeed to find and attract candidates.

Skills to look for in a clinical director

A great clinical director will have many of the following skills, developed through a mix of professional experience, training or education:

• Proficiency in healthcare administration tools such as electronic medical records (EMR), scheduling platforms and compliance tracking software
• Strong leadership skills with experience supervising multidisciplinary clinical teams and managing daily operations
• In-depth knowledge of healthcare regulations and accreditation standards like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and The Joint Commission
• Ability to analyze patient care data and other metrics, such as patient satisfaction scores or hospital readmission rates, to identify areas for improvement
• Budgeting and resource planning experience to ensure efficient and cost-effective clinical operations

Writing a clinical director job description

A well-crafted job description is where all these elements—skills, salary data and candidate search behavior—come together.

A strong clinical director job description 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 top candidates.

Ready to get started? Check out our full guide for writing clinical director job descriptions.

Interviewing clinical director candidates

To get a better sense of a candidate’s skills and experience, be prepared to ask questions about the following topics:

• Overseeing daily clinical operations while ensuring adherence to healthcare regulations and standards
• Leading interdisciplinary care teams and resolving conflicts in treatment plans
• Developing and implementing policies to improve patient outcomes and staff performance
• Managing compliance audits, licensing requirements and risk mitigation in healthcare settings
• Balancing administrative duties with clinical decision-making responsibilities