What Do Clinical Data Managers Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Clinical Data Managers apply knowledge of health care and database management to analyze clinical data, and to identify and report trends. They also design and validate clinical databases, including designing or testing logic checks.

Other tasks include:

• 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.

We asked Clinical Data Managers how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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70% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 46% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Clinical Data Managers monitor work productivity or quality to ensure compliance with standard operating procedures. They process clinical data, including receipt, entry, verification, or filing of information.

• Supervise the work of data management project staff.
• Generate data queries, based on validation checks or errors and omissions identified during data entry, to resolve identified problems.
• Track the flow of work forms, including in-house data flow or electronic forms transfer.
• Analyze clinical data using appropriate statistical tools.
• Design forms for receiving, processing, or tracking data.

We asked some Clinical Data Managers a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	91% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	64% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	73% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	23% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	0% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	18% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Clinical Data Managers also prepare data analysis listings and activity, performance, or progress reports. They may also develop technical specifications for data management programming and communicate needs to information technology staff.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Clinical Data Managers Provide support and information to functional areas such as marketing, clinical monitoring, and medical affairs. They might also Develop or select specific software programs for various research scenarios.

In addition, they Design and validate clinical databases, including designing or testing logic checks.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Confer with end users to define or implement clinical system requirements such as data release formats, delivery schedules, and testing protocols.

To some Clinical Data Managers, it is also their responsibility to Track the flow of work forms, including in-house data flow or electronic forms transfer.

Working life

Standard 40 hour work week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as a Clinical Data Manager, you can expect to work 40 hour work week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like following set procedures and routines. They like working with data and details more than with ideas..

They also like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/OOH/math/statisticians.htm

http://www.amstat.org/

http://thisisstatistics.org/

http://www.ams.org/