What does a clinical coordinator do?

A clinical coordinator is responsible for monitoring a healthcare facility's daily operations, ensuring the best quality services for the patients. Clinical coordinators perform administrative and clerical tasks as needed, such as organizing patient files, communicating with other departments and healthcare organizations for validating patients' information and insurance documents, prepare medical reports, assist medical professionals in medical procedures, and observe sanitary and hygienic standards. A clinical coordinator must have excellent time-management skills to perform duties under minimal supervision.
Clinical coordinator responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real clinical coordinator resumes:
- Manage chronic illnesses such as hypertension, coronary disease and diabetes.
- Create and manage case report forms and transmit data through EDC to sponsor.
- Manage patient telemetries systems to include EKG's, vitals, INR management and sleep monitoring systems.
- Manage the CRA team and serve as main point of contact for study logistics and relate questions including subject eligibility questions.
- Manage common side effects of chemotherapy and experimental therapies.
- Manage the clinical reimbursement coordinators traveling schedule to ensure that facilities have adequate MDS coverage.
- Schedule training for residents when need (CPR, HIPAA, etc) or when administrative requirements change.
- Verify patient insurance information as well as verified Medicare and Medicaid eligibility for patients.
- Communicate surgical information to patients including: arrival time, surgery start, prescriptions and post-operative instructions.
- Prepare patients for treatment triage by hospital personnel according to hospital and department standard operating policies and procedures.
- Research and prepare HIPPA compliant documents
- Maintain provider and patient confidentiality, HIPPA compliance.
- Assist sites with ICD-9 and CPT code selection.
- Instruct on anemia management and nursing policies using PowerPoint.
- Execute & provide data for study metrics to team CRA.
Clinical coordinator skills and personality traits
We calculated that 29% of Clinical Coordinators are proficient in Patients, Customer Service, and CPR. They’re also known for soft skills such as Time-management skills, Problem-solving skills, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Clinical Coordinators that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 29%
Participated and coordinated/managed the hospital-based services including home hospice and palliative care for oncology patients and other disease states.
- Customer Service, 6%
Promoted into a senior-level position with responsibility for acting as the primary point of contact regarding escalated customer service concerns.
- CPR, 5%
Developed, implemented, and oversaw organization's High Performance CPR Program that produced an overall 25% increase in ROSC.
- Rehabilitation, 3%
Provided clinical and administrative supervision, as well as training and mentoring for case managers and rehabilitation specialists on assigned team.
- Vital Signs, 3%
Performed specific protocol procedures such as interviewing subjects, taking vital signs, and performing electrocardiograms.
- Social Work, 3%
Monitored psychological status of entire clinical population and participated in discharge planning process with assigned social worker.
Common skills that a clinical coordinator uses to do their job include "patients," "customer service," and "cpr." You can find details on the most important clinical coordinator responsibilities below.
Time-management skills. One of the key soft skills for a clinical coordinator to have is time-management skills. You can see how this relates to what clinical coordinators do because "natural sciences managers must be able to perform multiple administrative, supervisory, and technical tasks while ensuring that projects remain on schedule." Additionally, a clinical coordinator resume shows how clinical coordinators use time-management skills: "track front desk time and sign off on timesheets, approve/deny and time off requests. "
Problem-solving skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling clinical coordinator duties is problem-solving skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "natural sciences managers use scientific observation and analysis to find answers to complex technical questions." According to a clinical coordinator resume, here's how clinical coordinators can utilize problem-solving skills in their job responsibilities: "provide aide in finding solutions to epm and emr related problems. "
Leadership skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of clinical coordinators is leadership skills. This skill is critical to many everyday clinical coordinator duties, as "natural sciences managers must be able to organize, direct, and motivate others." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "provided clinical supervision and clinical leadership to human service/direct-care staff. "
Interpersonal skills. For certain clinical coordinator responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "interpersonal skills." The day-to-day duties of a clinical coordinator rely on this skill, as "natural sciences managers lead research teams and therefore need to work well with others in order to reach common goals." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what clinical coordinators do: "developed leadership abilities and interpersonal skills while gaining valuable customer service and project management experience. "
Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in clinical coordinator job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what clinical coordinators do. Clinical coordinator responsibilities rely on this skill because "natural sciences managers must be able to communicate clearly with a variety of audiences, such as scientists, policymakers, and the public." You can also see how clinical coordinator duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "discharge planning patient rounds with physicians -reviewed position descriptions and related policies with procedures specific to nurse/physician communication and collaboration. "
The three companies that hire the most clinical coordinators are:
- Tenet Healthcare42 clinical coordinators jobs
- HealthTrust37 clinical coordinators jobs
- Hca Hospital Services Of San Diego
31 clinical coordinators jobs
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Clinical coordinator vs. Research project coordinator
Research Project Coordinators take on a lead role in maintaining and creating processes that support the execution of a research project. Their duties include researching governance requirements, preparing for contract bidding, manage budgeting of a project to meet a specified timeline, and present findings of a project to all stakeholders involved. The Research Project Coordinator will also support administrative tasks, including producing corporate reports, organizing committee meetings, and developing a research database to track active milestones achieved.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, clinical coordinator responsibilities require skills like "customer service," "cpr," "rehabilitation," and "vital signs." Meanwhile a typical research project coordinator has skills in areas such as "project management," "public health," "irb," and "data analysis." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Research project coordinators tend to make the most money working in the professional industry, where they earn an average salary of $50,025. In contrast, clinical coordinators make the biggest average salary, $56,227, in the health care industry.The education levels that research project coordinators earn slightly differ from clinical coordinators. In particular, research project coordinators are 2.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a clinical coordinator. Additionally, they're 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Clinical coordinator vs. Clinical supervisor
A clinical supervisor is responsible for managing a healthcare facility's daily operations, including the medical procedures and treatments of the medical professionals and practitioners. Clinical supervisors work with other healthcare professionals to optimize treatments, assess patients' health conditions, and administer medications. They also enforce strict sanitary and hygienic procedures for strict compliance of the staff. A clinical supervisor must have excellent knowledge of the medical industry to discuss recommendations and evaluate work procedures to provide the patients' highest quality services.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that clinical coordinator responsibilities requires skills like "cpr," "cms," "surgery," and "icu." But a clinical supervisor might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "autism," "aba," "professional development," and "quality care."
Clinical supervisors may earn a higher salary than clinical coordinators, but clinical supervisors earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $64,036. On the other hand, clinical coordinators receive higher pay in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $56,227.In general, clinical supervisors achieve higher levels of education than clinical coordinators. They're 12.4% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Clinical coordinator vs. Clinical specialist
A Clinical Specialists role is to assist in the selling of particular medical devices that need more detailed and complex knowledge. They work in laboratories as part of a team of technologists, technicians, and supervisors.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, clinical coordinators are more likely to have skills like "cpr," "direct patient care," "surgery," and "patient flow." But a clinical specialist is more likely to have skills like "patient care," "clinical support," "technical support," and "work ethic."
Clinical specialists make a very good living in the pharmaceutical industry with an average annual salary of $79,126. On the other hand, clinical coordinators are paid the highest salary in the health care industry, with average annual pay of $56,227.When it comes to education, clinical specialists tend to earn similar degree levels compared to clinical coordinators. In fact, they're 1.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Clinical coordinator vs. Treatment coordinator
A Treatment Coordinator is responsible for assisting the doctors and other medical professionals in performing treatment procedures and administering medications for the patients. Treatment Coordinators manage administrative duties, such as scheduling medical appointments, discussing the treatment plans to the patients, updating medical information on the database, and processing payments for the medical procedures. They also coordinate with the insurance agencies to verify the patients' eligibility and information and file documents as necessary. A Treatment Coordinator must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in maintaining databases and ensuring that all medical forms are organized and safely stored.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between clinical coordinators and treatment coordinators, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a clinical coordinator might have more use for skills like "cpr," "rehabilitation," "vital signs," and "cms." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of treatment coordinators require skills like "financial arrangements," "treatment options," "oral surgery," and "patient care. "
Treatment coordinators enjoy the best pay in the non profits industry, with an average salary of $42,993. For comparison, clinical coordinators earn the highest salary in the health care industry.In general, treatment coordinators hold similar degree levels compared to clinical coordinators. Treatment coordinators are 2.5% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 1.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of clinical coordinator
Updated January 8, 2025











