What Is a Physician Relations Manager and How to Become One
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What Does a Physician Relations Manager Do?
As a physician relations manager, you support communication and outreach between a hospital or health system and its physicians. In this role, you may develop employee retention strategies, use credentialing checks to ensure all physicians continue to meet the requirements of their job, and plan special events to keep morale high. Physician relations managers frequently visit various offices to ensure physicians are satisfied with the support they receive from the hospital, help address known problems, and support scheduling efforts to ensure all doctors get enough time off. In some cases, physician relations managers also visit doctors outside of their system to help build relationships and encourage referrals to specific facilities.
How to Become a Physician Liaison Manager
The primary qualifications for becoming a physician liaison manager are a master's degree in a relevant field and previous professional experience in a role like pharmaceutical sales or medical device sales. Some experience in physician recruiting is also helpful and can serve as a good substitute for experience with product sales. Since this job involves a lot of travel, a valid driver's license and a clean driving record are also important. Fulfilling the responsibilities and duties of a physician liaison manager requires organizational skills, interpersonal skills, communication skills, and the ability to manage a frequently-changing schedule. Physicians often have to attend to patient emergencies, so the ability to work around the uncertainty of their schedules is essential to success in this role.
