Clinical director vs service director

The differences between clinical directors and service directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a clinical director and a service director. Additionally, a service director has an average salary of $114,981, which is higher than the $96,497 average annual salary of a clinical director.

The top three skills for a clinical director include patients, patient care and physical therapy. The most important skills for a service director are patients, healthcare, and patient care.

Clinical director vs service director overview

	Clinical Director	Service Director
Yearly salary	$96,497	$114,981
Hourly rate	$46.39	$55.28
Growth rate	28%	28%
Number of jobs	83,232	64,277
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 43%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	6	6

What does a clinical director do?

A clinical director is a managing professional who manages the work of healthcare providers to ensure quality patient care is achieved. Clinical directors are responsible for organizational tasks such as adjusting staff schedules, explaining insurance benefits to the patients, and managing financial reports. They can work either in small clinics with a smaller workforce or larger hospitals with multiple departments. Clinical directors may also assist in the hiring process of healthcare providers and should establish a positive work environment.

What does a service director do?

A service director is responsible for managing and implementing customer service policies and ensuring that all staff strictly adhere to reach the highest customer satisfaction. Service directors' duties include identifying business opportunities to improve customers' experience, monitoring the performance of the customer service team, developing strategic procedures on service delivery, creating new promotional offers and services, and coaching the team to increase business productivity. A service director must have excellent leadership and communication skills, as well as extensive knowledge of the customer service industry to lead the team and boost company sales.

Clinical director vs service director salary

Clinical directors and service directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Clinical Director	Service Director
Average salary	$96,497	$114,981
Salary range	Between $63,000 And $145,000	Between $70,000 And $188,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	California
Best paying company	Sutro Biopharma	Mayo Clinic
Best paying industry	Health Care	Technology

Differences between clinical director and service director education

There are a few differences between a clinical director and a service director in terms of educational background:

	Clinical Director	Service Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 43%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common major	Nursing	Business
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	University of Pennsylvania

Clinical director vs service director demographics

Here are the differences between clinical directors' and service directors' demographics:

	Clinical Director	Service Director
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 35.2% Female, 64.8%	Male, 57.2% Female, 42.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 8.1% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 7.6% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between clinical director and service director duties and responsibilities

Clinical director example responsibilities.

Develop distinctive ambulatory strategies to achieve and sustain competitive healthcare advantage.
Manage and assist with data collection and input for MDS.
Manage quality of documentation through education and electronic review of clinical processes utilizing HCHB EMR.
Manage front office, marketing, and communication -demonstrated/supervise exercises for patients -Developed instructional packets for home exercise programs
Manage projects and ambulatory system initiatives, and collaborate with system leadership teams to ensure EMR alignment with all regulatory requirements.
Experience in GCP, FDA audits, and regulatory guidance review and implementation.

Service director example responsibilities.

Lead and manage implementation and customization of SharePoint to replace legacy document approval system and document filing system.
Lead the training program for child psychiatry residents.
Manage social medias (Weibo, Facebook and etc . )
Assist in managing client accounts by managing HVAC alignments and ensuring contractual requirements are meet.
Manage a staff of 280 FTE s and a management team of 6 in a union environment.
Manage all daily operations, both clinical and support, during and after Medicare trials to ensure long-term business viability.

Clinical director vs service director skills

Common clinical director skills

Patients, 18%
Patient Care, 11%
Physical Therapy, 5%
Social Work, 4%
Rehabilitation, 4%
Clinical Services, 3%

Common service director skills

Patients, 12%
Healthcare, 10%
Patient Care, 10%
Customer Service, 9%
Oversight, 5%
Surgery, 4%

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Clinical Director
Clinical Director vs Service Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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