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Clinical Data Managers

Clinical Data Managers: Career Overview

Apply knowledge of health care and database management to analyze clinical data, and to identify and report trends.

What Tasks Do Clinical Data Managers Take On?

Typical responsibilities of clinical data managers include:

  • Design and validate clinical databases, including designing or testing logic checks.
  • Process clinical data, including receipt, entry, verification, or filing of information.
  • Generate data queries, based on validation checks or errors and omissions identified during data entry, to resolve identified problems.
  • Develop project-specific data management plans that address areas such as coding, reporting, or transfer of data, database locks, and work flow processes.
  • Monitor work productivity or quality to ensure compliance with standard operating procedures.
  • Prepare appropriate formatting to data sets as requested.
  • Design forms for receiving, processing, or tracking data.
  • Prepare data analysis listings and activity, performance, or progress reports.

What Clinical Data Managers Need to Know

Top clinical data managers rely on a mix of skills and domain knowledge.

Key Skills

The abilities most central to this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Critical Thinking  4.0 / 5
0
5
Speaking  3.9 / 5
0
5
Active Listening  3.9 / 5
0
5
Reading Comprehension  3.9 / 5
0
5
Writing  3.8 / 5
0
5
Active Learning  3.6 / 5
0
5

Top Knowledge Areas

English Language  4.1 / 5
0
5
Computers and Electronics  4.0 / 5
0
5
Customer and Personal Service  3.7 / 5
0
5
Mathematics  3.2 / 5
0
5
Medicine and Dentistry  3.0 / 5
0
5
Administration and Management  3.0 / 5
0
5

Other Clinical Data Managers Job Titles

Common job titles for this role include:

  • Abstractor
  • Analyst
  • Application Analyst
  • Application Coordinator
  • Clinical Applications Director
  • Clinical Biostatistics Director
  • Clinical Data Abstractor
  • Clinical Data Analyst

How Many Clinical Data Managers Are There?

There are about 303,432 clinical data managers working in the United States today. Demand is forecast to decline by -0.9% over the projection horizon.

Forecasted number of jobs for Clinical Data Managers

Salary for Clinical Data Managers

Statistic Value
Annual median $99,475
Hourly median $47.82
10th percentile $67,662
25th percentile $83,569
75th percentile $115,381
90th percentile $131,287

Pay can vary substantially based on experience, location, and industry.

Salary ranges for Clinical Data Managers

Pay by State

State Annual median salary
Washington $158,760
District of Columbia $137,120
California $136,800
Massachusetts $132,250
New Jersey $130,370
Virginia $126,070
New York $125,400
Maryland $124,340
Hawaii $123,880
Vermont $120,670
Minnesota $117,840
Utah $116,420
North Carolina $115,380
Rhode Island $114,390
Illinois $113,490
Kansas $110,320
Connecticut $109,960
Idaho $109,340
Montana $106,860
Texas $106,540
Colorado $106,500
Oregon $106,100
Arizona $106,080
Florida $105,820
Alabama $105,410
Tennessee $104,700
Arkansas $104,320
Georgia $102,630
Pennsylvania $100,320
Wisconsin $100,020
Michigan $99,470
New Hampshire $98,970
Ohio $98,620
Iowa $97,980
Nebraska $96,470
North Dakota $96,230
Wyoming $95,840
West Virginia $95,760
Maine $94,350
Kentucky $93,490
Nevada $93,310
South Dakota $92,000
South Carolina $90,660
Missouri $85,570
New Mexico $85,040
Indiana $84,050
Oklahoma $80,380
Alaska $77,400
Puerto Rico $70,690
Louisiana $70,530
Mississippi $69,430

Pay by U.S. Region

Earnings for clinical data managers shift depending on where you work. The following regions pay the most:

Region Median annual wage Share of U.S. jobs Location quotient
Far Western US $137,283 21.0% 1.32
New England $123,650 6.4% 1.54
Middle Atlantic $119,433 18.7% 1.38
Rocky Mountains $110,478 5.4% 1.58
Southeast $107,591 18.9% 0.91
Southwest $104,241 12.9% 1.05
Great Lakes $101,492 11.1% 0.80
Plains States $99,118 5.5% 0.92

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Clinical Data Managers

Metro area State Median annual wage Employment
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA CA $173,160 6,570
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA CA $166,300 9,350
Idaho Falls, ID ID $164,030 220
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA WA $157,290 6,100
Naples-Marco Island, FL FL $145,030 50
Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT CT $139,660 370
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV DC $135,190 8,530
Bellingham, WA WA $134,530 40

Top Industries Employing Clinical Data Managers

The bulk of clinical data managers are found across these industries:

Industry Employment Median annual wage
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 69,410 $117,020
Finance and Insurance 41,020 $123,570
Information 26,840 $137,600
Management of Companies and Enterprises 26,100 $126,940
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services 14,390 $100,780
Health Care and Social Assistance 13,070 $87,870
Manufacturing 9,240 $118,080
Educational Services 8,700 $79,310
Clinical Data Managers sectors

Clinical Data Managers work in the following industries:

Clinical Data Managers industries

Tools and Technology

  • Object or component oriented development software: C# (hot technology)
  • Object or component oriented development software: C++ (hot technology)
  • Medical software: Epic Systems (hot technology)
  • Enterprise application integration software: Extensible markup language XML (hot technology)
  • Development environment software: Go (hot technology)
  • Analytical or scientific software: IBM SPSS Statistics (hot technology)
  • Medical software: MEDITECH software (hot technology)
  • Data base user interface and query software: Microsoft Access (hot technology)
  • Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel (hot technology)
  • Office suite software: Microsoft Office software (hot technology)
  • Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint (hot technology)
  • Project management software: Microsoft Project (hot technology)

The Day-to-Day Environment

Daily working conditions for clinical data managers reflects the following characteristics:

  • E-Mail
  • Spend Time Sitting
  • Telephone Conversations
  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate
  • Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team

How to Become Clinical Data Managers

Most clinical data managers positions require a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry-level education. The role falls in Considerable Preparation Needed (Job Zone 4), reflecting the level of preparation typically expected.

Similar Occupations

Degree Programs

Students preparing for clinical data managers often complete programs in:

Mathematics and Statistics

12 programs across 5 majors

Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies

11 programs across 6 majors

Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services

5 programs across 3 majors

Biological and Biomedical Sciences

3 programs across 1 majors

2 programs across 1 majors

Social Sciences

1 programs across 1 majors

Sources

Data on this page comes from the following authoritative sources:

  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
  • BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
  • O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.

SOC code: 15-2051.02 (Data Scientists).

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