Patient care manager vs service director

The differences between patient care managers 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 patient care manager and a service director. Additionally, a service director has an average salary of $114,981, which is higher than the $65,369 average annual salary of a patient care manager.

The top three skills for a patient care manager include home health, patients and quality care. The most important skills for a service director are patients, healthcare, and patient care.

Patient care manager vs service director overview

	Patient Care Manager	Service Director
Yearly salary	$65,369	$114,981
Hourly rate	$31.43	$55.28
Growth rate	28%	28%
Number of jobs	123,652	64,277
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	6	6

What does a patient care manager do?

Patient care managers are executives who are in charge of supervising a clinical team. The managers take responsibility for directing patient care within an organization. Also called health care managers, they protect every patient's safety and health in a clinical setting. They interact with the healthcare team members to maintain open communication. It is also part of their duties to supervise the daily operations in the clinical care units. Managing clinical budgets and maintaining quality health services are also their responsibilities.

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.

Patient care manager vs service director salary

Patient care managers and service directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Patient Care Manager	Service Director
Average salary	$65,369	$114,981
Salary range	Between $36,000 And $117,000	Between $70,000 And $188,000
Highest paying City	Oakland, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Accenture	Mayo Clinic
Best paying industry	Health Care	Technology

Differences between patient care manager and service director education

There are a few differences between a patient care manager and a service director in terms of educational background:

	Patient Care Manager	Service Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common major	Nursing	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Patient care manager vs service director demographics

Here are the differences between patient care managers' and service directors' demographics:

	Patient Care Manager	Service Director
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 17.1% Female, 82.9%	Male, 57.2% Female, 42.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 7.4% White, 61.1% 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 patient care manager and service director duties and responsibilities

Patient care manager example responsibilities.

Manage complicated cases involving serious injuries, medical evacuations, cruise ship disembarkation, and repatriation of remains with compassion.
Direct oversight of all case management and education relate to chronic disease and primary care management.
Utilize resources such as financial and pharmacy assistance for uninsure patients to receive professional medical care upon discharge.
Prevent unnecessary hospital admissions using keen assessment skills and redirecting to PCP's office when appropriate.
Ensure compliance both with HIPAA and CMS, to include all audits and enrollments via Medicare.
Plant and maintain flower beds such as mulching, fertilizing, watering, mowing, and pruning.

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.

Patient care manager vs service director skills

Common patient care manager skills

Home Health, 15%
Patients, 12%
Quality Care, 8%
Social Work, 7%
Community Resources, 4%
Substance Abuse, 4%

Common service director skills

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

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Executive Management Industry
Patient Care Manager
Patient Care Manager vs Service Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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