91ÌÒÉ«

Career Description

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

What Job Titles Clinical Data Managers Might Have

• Clinical Data Management Director (CDM Director)
• Clinical Data Manager
• Clinical Data Management Manager (CDM Manager)

What Clinical Data Managers Do

• 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.
• Confer with end users to define or implement clinical system requirements such as data release formats, delivery schedules, and testing protocols.
• Perform quality control audits to ensure accuracy, completeness, or proper usage of clinical systems and data.
• Analyze clinical data using appropriate statistical tools.
• Evaluate processes and technologies, and suggest revisions to increase productivity and efficiency.
• Develop technical specifications for data management programming and communicate needs to information technology staff.
• Write work instruction manuals, data capture guidelines, or standard operating procedures.
• Track the flow of work forms, including in-house data flow or electronic forms transfer.
• Supervise the work of data management project staff.
• Contribute to the compilation, organization, and production of protocols, clinical study reports, regulatory submissions, or other controlled documentation.
• Read technical literature and participate in continuing education or professional associations to maintain awareness of current database technology and best practices.
• Train staff on technical procedures or software program usage.
• Develop or select specific software programs for various research scenarios.

What Clinical Data Managers Should Be Good At

• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Clinical Data Managers Should Be Interested In

• Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
• Investigative - Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

What Clinical Data Managers Need to Learn

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.