What does a clinical liaison do?
A clinical liaison's role is to promote health care and rehabilitation facilities to patients and their families. Their responsibilities revolve around devising strategies to reach sales targets, reviewing patient cases, having an in-depth understanding of the facilities and potential patients, assisting clients in filling up paperwork, maintaining records and data of all transactions, and addressing inquiries and concerns. Furthermore, a clinical liaison may perform clerical tasks such as producing reports, answering calls and correspondence, and arranging meetings and appointments with clients. Should there be any issues, it is essential to report to the managers or supervisors promptly.
Clinical liaison responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real clinical liaison resumes:
- Manage social media outlets for the organization; such as Facebook, update weekly status and weekly inspirational videos.
- Provide crisis intervention and triage services to clients in compassionate and responsible manner, serving individually tailor services to clients.
- Perform clinical evaluations to determine if patients would qualify with acute rehab criteria and review with physicians.
- Communicate with physicians regarding prospective patients and their diagnosis, rehabilitation needs and expectations of family prior to admission.
- Spearhead marketing and business initiatives to increase patient referrals for skil nursing facility specializing in rehabilitation services for senior adults.
- Provide elbow support for physicians learning to navigate Cerner and use PowerPlans.
- Experience teaching in operating rooms, clinics, preoperative sites, oncology clinics, and hospitals.
- Initial assessment of patients in hospitals, rehabs, ALF's, SNF's for service coordination.
- Coordinate setup of hardware/equipment for go-live.
- Coordinate parallel testing activities and eventual go-live.
- Test proposed Cerner solutions in non-production environments.
- Perform routine provider assistance with minor outpatient procedures and telephone triage.
- Enter MDS information into computer and complete quarterly and annual assessments of residents.
- Set follow-up appointments with PCP and obtain authorization for follow-up with consulting physicians.
- Assist military veterans and active duty troops with financial assistance and their academic major.
Clinical liaison skills and personality traits
We calculated that 26% of Clinical Liaisons are proficient in Patients, Home Health, and Rehabilitation. They’re also known for soft skills such as Critical-thinking skills, Detail oriented, and Emotional stability.
We break down the percentage of Clinical Liaisons that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 26%
Developed strong rapport and provided disease specific education to clinical personnel, physicians, patients and family members.
- Home Health, 11%
Assisted facility Marketer to ensure community relationships with area Home Health agencies, area hospitals and community physicians were maintained professionally.
- Rehabilitation, 7%
Worked in partnership with assigned RSA Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor to coordinate, implement and monitor rehabilitation related services for SMI adults.
- Patient Care, 6%
Identify opportunities for improvement in patient care and participate in the institution's quality assurance/performance improvement initiatives as requested.
- Social Work, 5%
Collaborate with case managers and social workers to facilitate patient transfers to Select Specialty Hospital.
- Customer Service, 5%
Provided excellent and consistent customer service working closely with client/family, office and clinical staff and various community resources.
Common skills that a clinical liaison uses to do their job include "patients," "home health," and "rehabilitation." You can find details on the most important clinical liaison responsibilities below.
Critical-thinking skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a clinical liaison to have is critical-thinking skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "registered nurses must assess changes in the health status of patients, such as determining when to take corrective action." Clinical liaisons often use critical-thinking skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "utilize critical-thinking skills in the review and determination of coverage for medically necessary health care services. "
Detail oriented. Many clinical liaison duties rely on detail oriented. "registered nurses must be precise because they must ensure that patients get the correct treatments and medicines at the right time.," so a clinical liaison will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways clinical liaison responsibilities rely on detail oriented: "detail oriented planner and implementation of patient care. "
Emotional stability. clinical liaisons are also known for emotional stability, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to clinical liaison responsibilities, because "registered nurses need emotional resilience and the ability to cope with human suffering, emergencies, and other stressors." A clinical liaison resume example shows how emotional stability is used in the workplace: "utilized clinical judgment and assessment skills to determine client appropriateness and medical stability for acute rehabilitation. "
Physical stamina. A big part of what clinical liaisons do relies on "physical stamina." You can see how essential it is to clinical liaison responsibilities because "nurses should be comfortable performing physical tasks, such as lifting patients." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical clinical liaison tasks: "facilitate home health services for clients: skilled nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy. "
Compassion. Another common skill required for clinical liaison responsibilities is "compassion." This skill comes up in the duties of clinical liaisons all the time, as "registered nurses should be caring and empathetic when working with patients." An excerpt from a real clinical liaison resume shows how this skill is central to what a clinical liaison does: "assess and complete admission paperwork for all patients for services with compassion and urgency. "
Communication skills. Another skill commonly found on clinical liaison job descriptions is "communication skills." It can come up quite often in clinical liaison duties, since "registered nurses must be able to communicate effectively with patients in order to understand their concerns and evaluate their health conditions." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day clinical liaison responsibilities: "provided compassionate communication with patients and families regarding hospice services. "
The three companies that hire the most clinical liaisons are:
- Humana49 clinical liaisons jobs
- Select Medical45 clinical liaisons jobs
- Kindred Healthcare33 clinical liaisons jobs
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Compare different clinical liaisons
Clinical liaison vs. Registered nurse charge nurse
A registered charge nurse is responsible for supervising nurses' workflow in a particular department or area, ensuring every patient gets the proper care that they need. A registered charge nurse has the discretion to direct tasks, arrange schedules, and monitor patients, such as in the aspects of admission and discharge. Furthermore, a registered charge nurse must maintain an active line of communication and coordination among nurses, physicians, and other personnel involved as the conditions in a hospital can be unpredictable.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a clinical liaison are more likely to require skills like "home health," "social work," "customer service," and "admission process." On the other hand, a job as a registered nurse charge nurse requires skills like "bls," "cpr," "acls," and "direct patient care." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Registered nurses charge nurses earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $68,929. On the other hand, clinical liaisons are paid more in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $79,480.registered nurses charge nurses tend to reach lower levels of education than clinical liaisons. In fact, registered nurses charge nurses are 10.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Clinical liaison vs. Registered nurse
The primary responsibilities of a registered nurse involve caring for a variety of patients, from ill and injured to those who are healthy and wanting to stay that way. Nurses have different specialization and work with particular patients, such as newborn babies or those who are suffering from particular medical conditions. They work on different settings which includes hospital, outpatient facility, rehabilitation center, nursing home, dialysis center, home healthcare agency, and other offices. They can administer medications, wound care, and other aids or treatment plan. They also conduct medical tests, interpret the results, and monitor patients' recovery and progress.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, clinical liaison responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "social work," "customer service," "admission process," and "business development." Meanwhile, a registered nurse has duties that require skills in areas such as "bls," "cpr," "acute care," and "acls." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Registered nurses may earn a higher salary than clinical liaisons, but registered nurses earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $64,500. On the other hand, clinical liaisons receive higher pay in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $79,480.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Registered nurses tend to reach lower levels of education than clinical liaisons. In fact, they're 10.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Clinical liaison vs. Staff nurse
Staff nurses are registered nurses who are usually assigned to work in a care home, a company, or in a clinical setting. They advise the physical assessments of patients, employees, and residents. They also handle the checking of vital signs, providing basic medical procedures, giving first aid, and, if possible, providing over the counter medication. Staff nurses provide medical attention to the people in their place of assignment. They help pave the path to their patients' full recovery. Staff nurses are expected to be patient and have good interpersonal skills.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a clinical liaison is likely to be skilled in "home health," "social work," "customer service," and "admission process," while a typical staff nurse is skilled in "bls," "cpr," "acls," and "acute care."
Staff nurses earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $58,739. Clinical liaisons earn the highest pay from the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $79,480.When it comes to education, staff nurses tend to earn lower degree levels compared to clinical liaisons. In fact, they're 10.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Clinical liaison vs. Utilization review nurse
The primary role of an Utilization Review Nurse is to analyze the condition of each patient carefully and decide if the patient still needs to stay in the hospital or be sent home. They deal with patients' relatives, doctors, and people from insurance companies.
Types of clinical liaison
Updated January 8, 2025
