Chief Medical Officer Salary

Created by Henry Steele

By Henry Steele - January 8, 2018
Reading Time: 6 minutes
Reading Time: 6 minutes

The following article discusses the career path of Chief Medical Officer. Learn about how to become one, education requirements, job duties, traits and qualities, national salary outlook as well as top national employers of Chief Medical Officers.

Job Duties

Chief medical officers (CMO) hold responsibility for the leadership and supervision of all medical professionals and activities within a health care organization. They develop different initiatives in order to ensure that patient satisfaction is improved, while at the same time ensuring profitability. They change methods of service delivery for the better and stay up to date with all clinical trends in models of patient care, changing theirs where appropriate. They also develop strong relationships with staff, suppliers, and patients and families. Through these, they gather feedback on service delivery in an effort to improve it. Furthermore, they provide operational and strategic direction.

CMOs have a variety of other important tasks. They report on metrics of clinical performance, ensure strategies are delivered on time, oversee budgets, report to organizational executives on financial data, and support the overall development of the health care organization. Furthermore, they complete financial and performance reviews and provide supervision to clinical professionals in order to make sure all services and treatments are provided appropriately. They are also responsible for making sure that all privacy and safety protocols are implemented and followed.

Other job duties of chief medical officers are:

  • To provide supervision to physicians and clinicians.
  • To manage their medical facility’s health programs.
  • To meet with the Board of Directors in order to determine how the medical facility can improves its policies and procedures.
  • To ensure training is in place for physicians and medical staff.
  • To ensure all staff is aware of all relevant regulations and procedures.
  • To focus on compliance with facility policies, accreditation programs, and government regulations.
  • To work together with the facility’s administration and doctors to ensure standards of care are of the highest possible quality.

Where We Work

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 308,900 chief executives in 2016, of which just 7% were employed in health care and social assistance.

How to Become

To become a CMO, someone will be expected to hold a medical degree. Past experience in health care and in leadership positions is also very important. It is usually beneficial to hold leadership and industry certifications as well.

See also Best Management Jobs to Have in a Hospital

Education Requirements

CMOs have been to medical school and have generally specialized in a certain field of medicine. This means they are educated to doctorate-degree level. Besides education, having significant experience is usually of tremendous importance as well. Most CMOs have worked as physicians within the hospital they end up heading for a considerable amount of time.

Traits & Qualities

The most effective have the following traits to some degree or other:

  • Excellent communication skills
  • Strong decision making skills
  • Leadership skills, being able to motivate others
  • Management skills.
  • They are excellent problem solvers
  • They have strong time management skills

Minimum Education

Doctorate Degree

National Salary

The national average salary estimate for Chief Medical Officer was $185,835. This number is estimated from over 85,524 employees, users past and present job advertisements from Indeed.com. This equates to an hourly salary of $96.79 and monthly of $15,486.

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$49,000

$411,000

Salary Distribution

Salary by State

The following section lists Chief Medical Officer salaries in each state around the country. The figures are based on the total number of job postings through Indeed.com. For example, Washington had the largest quoted salary of $229,911 while New Hampshire had the smallest quoted salary of $25,200.

AlabamaGeorgiaMississippiOregon
ArizonaIllinoisNorth CarolinaPennsylvania
CaliforniaIndianaNew HampshireTennessee
DCLouisianaNew MexicoTexas
FloridaMassachusettsNew YorkWashington
Alabama$172,891Rank: 11th
The average salary ranks 11th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Department of Veterans Affairs.

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$55,000

$355,000

Salary Distribution
Arizona$165,681Rank: 12th
The average salary ranks 12th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like State of Arizona, MY DR NOW, Indian Health Service, and Northern Arizona University.

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$37,000

$385,000

Salary Distribution
California$223,260Rank: 2nd
The average salary ranks 2nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like HealthConcepts, CMC Limited, Clinical Management Consultants, and Mission City Community Network, Inc.

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$84,000

$427,000

Salary Distribution
DC$185,191Rank: 8th
The average salary ranks 8th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Continuum Physician Recruiting and Whitman-Walker Clinic.

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$61,000

$374,000

Salary Distribution
Florida$163,463Rank: 13th
The average salary ranks 13th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Acuity Professional Placement Solutions and Department of Veterans Affairs.

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$39,000

$373,000

Salary Distribution
Georgia$130,584Rank: 19th
The average salary ranks 19th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Department of Veterans Affairs.

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$30,000

$301,000

Salary Distribution
Illinois$200,548Rank: 4th
The average salary ranks 4th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Clinical Management Consultants and CMC Limited.

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$51,000

$448,000

Salary Distribution
Indiana$200,412Rank: 5th
The average salary ranks 5th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Acuity Professional Placement Solutions and Creative Healthcare Solutions.

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$89,000

$356,000

Salary Distribution
Louisiana$160,794Rank: 15th
The average salary ranks 15th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Department of Veterans Affairs.

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$38,000

$368,000

Salary Distribution
Massachusetts$149,777Rank: 17th
The average salary ranks 17th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like TEC Group International.

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$22,000

$398,000

Salary Distribution
Mississippi$196,321Rank: 6th
The average salary ranks 6th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Acuity Professional Placement Solutions.

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$96,000

$331,000

Salary Distribution
North Carolina$193,096Rank: 7th
The average salary ranks 7th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like The C.W. Williams Community Health Center,Inc..

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$62,000

$394,000

Salary Distribution
New Hampshire$25,200Rank: 20th
The average salary ranks 20th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like K.A. Recruiting, Inc..

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$60.00

$200

Salary Distribution
New Mexico$202,975Rank: 3rd
The average salary ranks 3rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Indian Health Service.

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$46,000

$472,000

Salary Distribution
New York$184,890Rank: 9th
The average salary ranks 9th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Enterprise Medical Recruiting and Axion.

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$38,000

$443,000

Salary Distribution
Oregon$141,120Rank: 18th
The average salary ranks 18th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like State of Oregon.

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$4,400

$23,000

Salary Distribution
Pennsylvania$159,701Rank: 16th
The average salary ranks 16th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Clinical Management Consultants.

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$30,000

$393,000

Salary Distribution
Tennessee$176,742Rank: 10th
The average salary ranks 10th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Department of Veterans Affairs.

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$45,000

$395,000

Salary Distribution
Texas$162,348Rank: 14th
The average salary ranks 14th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Spring Branch Community Health Center, Healthcare Associates of Saints Pertersburg FL, LLC, MedicalRecruiting.com, and Department of Veterans Affairs.

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$52,000

$333,000

Salary Distribution
Washington$229,911Rank: 1st
The average salary ranks 1st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like MMS Group.

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$90,000

$433,000

Salary Distribution

Top 20 National Employers

According to Indeed.com, the following states had employers looking to hire a Chief Medical Officer. The quoted salary figure represents the average salary from all job postings by this employer.

Employer NameLocationAverage Salary

Learn More

Related Careers

Career NameAverage Salary

Henry Steele
Managing Editor
Henry is Managing Editor of BusinessStudent.com. He is a seasoned business professional who regularly consults with local business's throughout Southern California. Henry pursued his undergrad in Business and Economics at the University of San Diego and gained valuable life changing experience through a unique internship upon graduation.

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