New path for health-care leadership: clinical systems management. CLMA Clinical Systems Management Task Force

This article sets forth a concept and an action plan to support the educational needs for the clinical systems manager. This article describes the roles, competencies, and tasks of the clinical systems manager and defines specific intermediate and long-term steps. Clinical systems management is umbrella terminology used to describe an array of related jobs including, but not necessarily limited to, multidepartmental or interdisciplinary management, regional or health system-wide laboratory management, and traditional laboratory management. In general, clinical systems management recognizes the emergence of new jobs, with the primary responsibility of leading the integration of clinical services within health-care systems.