What does a Physician Liaison do?
A physician liaison specializes in helping medical facilities build positive relationships with physicians in a community. Typically working at the business development and sales offices, a physical liaison is responsible for meeting with physicians to introduce and promote the facility and its services, discuss referrals and patient care, and help physicians connect with surgeons and specialists for patient referral. Furthermore, a physician liaison must produce regular progress reports, coordinating with office managers while adhering to the facility's policies and regulations.
Physician liaison responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real physician liaison resumes:
- Distribute Medicare and Medicaid numbers to billing department, manage care department and all other applicable areas.
- Promote and market the following destination programs: therapeutic endoscopy, general surgery and surgical oncology.
- Visit referring physician offices with radiation oncology practice information and promotional materials to build effective referral relationships.
- Trouble shooting physician and nurse relate EHR issues during implementation.
- Oversee the day to day marketing operations of small radiation oncology center.
- Develop sales strategies for beta launch of internal EMR system to community-base physicians.
- Provide training on Medicare, Medicaid updates and provide department training in physicians' offices.
- Work as a liaison with various EMR vendors and the client to help resolve issues.
- Create marketing materials, advertising, and promotional programs to represent radiology site.
- Examine diagnosis codes for accuracy, completeness, specificity and appropriateness according to radiology services render.
- Demonstrate exceptional interpersonal skills while interacting with administration, patients, families, customers, vendors and government agencies.
- Communicate all exam prep information directly to patients, including directions, registration arrival times to the facility and imagining department.
- Provide overall quality prenatal health care, gynecological services, patient triage, refer patients with complications, provide patient education service
- Scan and upload patient documentation into eClinicalWorks system.
Physician liaison skills and personality traits
We calculated that 21% of Physician Liaisons are proficient in Patients, Patient Care, and Service Line. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Physician Liaisons that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 21%
Communicated all exam prep information directly to patients, including directions, registration arrival times to the facility and imagining department.
- Patient Care, 6%
Facilitated exceptional patient care, by providing physicians with accurate assessment documentation for rounds.
- Service Line, 6%
Contribute to hospital/service line growth and physician loyalty and satisfaction by connecting providers to appropriate health system resources.
- Business Development, 4%
Coordinate international physician/institution business development.
- CRM, 4%
Evaluated, Chose, Implemented and Managed the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.
- Excellent Interpersonal, 4%
Required a high level of public contact and excellent interpersonal skills.
"patients," "patient care," and "service line" are among the most common skills that physician liaisons use at work. You can find even more physician liaison responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a physician liaison to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "physicians and surgeons need to be excellent communicators." Physician liaisons often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "coordinated communication between hospital in-patient, social workers, soileau s vital care and home health agencies for administration of infusions. "
Compassion. Another essential skill to perform physician liaison duties is compassion. Physician liaisons responsibilities require that "patients who are sick or injured may be in extreme pain or distress." Physician liaisons also use compassion in their role according to a real resume snippet: "make sure that every patient is seen in a prompt way but also with care and compassion. "
Detail oriented. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of physician liaisons is detail oriented. This skill is critical to many everyday physician liaison duties, as "patients must receive appropriate treatment and medications." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "maintained tracking system to insure detailed medical reports for proper follow-up and referral of patient care to appropriate services. "
Dexterity. A big part of what physician liaisons do relies on "dexterity." You can see how essential it is to physician liaison responsibilities because "physicians and surgeons may work with very precise and sometimes sharp tools, and mistakes can have serious consequences." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical physician liaison tasks: "direct hands on patient experience obtain patient history and information obtain blood pressure perform injections assist in minor surgery"
Leadership skills. Another common skill required for physician liaison responsibilities is "leadership skills." This skill comes up in the duties of physician liaisons all the time, as "physicians who work in their own practice must manage a staff of other professionals." An excerpt from a real physician liaison resume shows how this skill is central to what a physician liaison does: "created and distributed to hospital leadership team monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual physician referral pattern reports. "
Physical stamina. While "physical stamina" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to physician liaison responsibilities. Much of what a physician liaison does relies on this skill, seeing as "physicians and surgeons should be comfortable lifting or turning disabled patients, or performing other physical tasks." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of physician liaisons: "developed and facilitated strategic marketing solutions to promote physical therapists and facilitating physicians maintained established relationships with area physicians and medical professionals"
The three companies that hire the most physician liaisons are:
- FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Centers13 physician liaisons jobs
- SCA Health11 physician liaisons jobs
- USA Vein Clinics11 physician liaisons jobs
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Compare different physician liaisons
Physician liaison vs. Chiropractor, sole practitioner
A family practice MD is responsible for monitoring and diagnosing patients' conditions of all ages. Family practice MDs identify the patients' medical histories and administer treatment plans and medications. They also coordinate with other medical professionals for further laboratory examinations. A family practice MD must have excellent communication and extensive knowledge of the medical industry to identify the best treatment methods for the patients. Family practice MDs keep an organized record of medical charts for reference and reports.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between physician liaisons and chiropractor, sole practitioner. For instance, physician liaison responsibilities require skills such as "patients," "patient care," "service line," and "business development." Whereas a chiropractor, sole practitioner is skilled in "litigation," "real estate transactions," "probate," and "bench trials." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Chiropractors, sole practitioner tend to reach similar levels of education than physician liaisons. In fact, chiropractors, sole practitioner are 4.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 48.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Physician liaison vs. Family practice md
Family practice doctors provide lifelong care for a patient and their family. They offer medical attention to all family members, educates patients on disease prevention, provide health maintenance, and ensure mental and emotional needs are met. They manage basic complaints, like colds or flus, and also treat chronic illnesses, like asthma, diabetes, or degenerative conditions. They provide ongoing personalized care. Doctors must be empathetic, professional, and knowledgeable.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, physician liaison responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "service line," "business development," "crm," and "excellent interpersonal." Meanwhile, an family practice md has duties that require skills in areas such as "primary care," "private practice," "nursing home," and "gyn." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Family practice mds earn a higher average salary than physician liaisons. But family practice mds earn the highest pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $207,373. Additionally, physician liaisons earn the highest salaries in the health care with average pay of $193,079 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Family practice mds tend to reach similar levels of education than physician liaisons. In fact, they're 2.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 48.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Physician liaison vs. Family practice doctor
A professor of family medicine is a medical expert who facilitates discussions and lectures for future medical practitioners. Their responsibilities revolve around developing teaching strategies, creating lesson and assessment plans, organizing activities and projects, preparing coursework, and monitoring the progress of students. They may also participate in studies, utilizing their expertise for discoveries. Furthermore, as a professor of family medicine, it is essential to lead and encourage students to reach their potentials, all while maintaining a safe and productive learning environment for everyone.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, physician liaisons are more likely to have skills like "service line," "business development," "crm," and "excellent interpersonal." But a family practice doctor is more likely to have skills like "family medicine," "urgent care," "outpatient clinic," and "disease prevention."
Most family practice doctors achieve a similar degree level compared to physician liaisons. For example, they're 2.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 33.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Physician liaison vs. Professor of family medicine
Types of physician liaison
Updated January 8, 2025
