A hospital lab manager runs the lab each day. They staff every shift, check quality control, and keep test records ready for inspectors. In a lab this small, the same person also works the bench, takes call, and does the daily work for a lab director who may visit only twice a year.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
We're hiring a laboratory manager to run our hospital lab and keep it ready for CLIA and accreditation inspections. You'll schedule the bench staff, review quality control, run proficiency testing and competency checks, and work closely with our [contracted] laboratory director. In a lab our size, you also work the bench and take call.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Schedule MLTs, MLSs and phlebotomists to cover the lab around the clock, including call for nights and weekends.
Review quality control, calibration and maintenance records, and stop patient testing when results can't be trusted.
Enroll in proficiency testing for every regulated test, review results with the laboratory director, and fix failures.
Run competency assessments for testing staff on the schedule CLIA requires, and keep training records ready for inspection.
Validate new tests and analyzers, and update procedures for the laboratory director to approve.
Oversee point-of-care testing on the units and in the ED, including glucose meters, QC logs and user training.
Manage the reference lab contract, analyzer service agreements, lab supplies and the lab budget.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review overnight QC, critical value calls and instrument problems with the night tech.
Work the bench in chemistry, hematology or blood bank when the lab is short.
Check turnaround times for ED and stat tests, and follow up on delays.
Review blood product use and any transfusion reactions with the laboratory director.
Answer provider and nurse questions about test orders, specimens and results.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Proficiency testing failures: [your target].
Inspection deficiencies: [your target].
Competency assessments completed on time: [your target].
ED lab turnaround time: [your target].
Lab cost per test: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor's degree in medical laboratory science, or in a chemical, biological or clinical laboratory science.
MLS (ASCP) certification or equivalent.
Meets CLIA personnel rules for the supervisory roles your lab needs, such as technical consultant or general supervisor.
[5+] years of hospital lab experience, including [2+] years as a lead tech or supervisor.
State clinical laboratory scientist or supervisor license, where your state requires one.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience leading a small hospital lab through CAP, COLA or Joint Commission inspections.
Blood bank experience, including product ordering and transfusion reaction workups.
Diplomate in Laboratory Management (DLM) from ASCP.
Experience with lab budgets, reference lab contracts and [your lab information system].
7. Physical Requirements
Sit and stand at the bench and desk for long periods, with fine hand work.
Walk to the ED and patient rooms to draw blood, and lift cases of supplies up to [25] pounds.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Weekday schedule: [hours], with bench shifts and call as needed: [rotation].
Exposure to blood, specimens and lab chemicals, with PPE provided.
Inspection visits from [CLIA surveyors or your accrediting body].
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new laboratory manager gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
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What's different about running a critical access hospital lab
Any lab manager schedules staff and reviews quality control. In a lab this small, the manager also keeps a mostly remote director, a reference lab and the nursing units in line with CLIA.
The laboratory director may visit twice a year
Your laboratory director may be a pathologist under contract who lives hours away. CLIA says the director must be on site at least once every six months, with at least four months between visits, and must write down the work done there. One person can direct no more than five labs. The manager plans each visit around proficiency reports, procedures that need a signature, and problems that need the director's call. Source: 42 CFR 493.1445: laboratory director responsibilities.
Some tests have to stay in the building
Medicare names basic tests that a critical access hospital must offer on its main campus: urine dipsticks, hemoglobin or hematocrit, blood sugar, stool tests for hidden blood, pregnancy tests, and starting cultures to send out. Your own staff or a lab under contract may run them. Other tests can go to an outside lab under an agreement. The hospital keeps a list of those deals and answers for the outside lab's work, so the manager watches its turnaround and its errors. Source: CMS State Operations Manual, Appendix W: critical access hospitals.
Proficiency samples get no special treatment
CLIA has the lab test proficiency samples like patient specimens: in the normal workload, by the staff who usually run the test, the usual number of times. Nobody may discuss results with another lab before the due date, and a sample may never go out for a test the lab is certified to do. CMS can revoke the certificate for at least a year over an intentional referral. Keep the signed records for at least two years. Source: 42 CFR 493.801: enrollment and testing of proficiency samples.
Competency means six checks for every test
CMS lists six parts of a competency check for anyone who runs moderate or high complexity tests. You watch them test, check how they record results, and review their QC and upkeep records. You watch them check the analyzer, test them with known or blind samples, and judge how they solve problems. It covers every test, even several on one analyzer. Do it twice in a new tech's first year, then once a year. Source: CMS: CLIA brochure, assessing personnel competency.
Testing outside the lab is still lab work
Nurses run glucose meters and urine dipsticks at the bedside and in the ER. For waived tests, CMS doesn't require the six-part competency check. It does require good training and following the maker's steps every time. Your state or your accreditor may ask for more. The manager trains new users, keeps the list of approved users current, and reads the QC logs from every unit. A gap on the night shift is still the lab's problem. Source: CMS: CLIA brochure, assessing personnel competency.
How much hospital laboratory managers make
The closest BLS group for hospital laboratory managers is medical and health services managers. Medical and health services managers who work for general medical and surgical hospitals earned a median of $134,050 a year ($64.45 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $123,860 median for medical and health services managers in all industries. About 158,730 of the 597,080 medical and health services managers in that survey work for general hospitals.
Usually salaried. Write into the offer whether bench shifts and call are part of the salary or paid extra. This page's BLS pay covers every kind of medical and health services manager, so weigh it against what hospitals near you offer.
General hospitals
$134,050$134,050 median Middle half $107,390–$172,180 10th–90th $92,480–$223,600
All industries
$123,860$123,860 median Middle half $94,700–$166,100 10th–90th $73,390–$224,340
$50k$75k$100k$125k$150k$175k$200k$225k$250k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
General hospitals
$92,480
$107,390
$134,050
$172,180
$223,600
All industries
$73,390
$94,700
$123,860
$166,100
$224,340
These figures cover general medical and surgical hospitals of every size. Rural hospitals often pay less than city hospitals. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Can cover any bench in the lab on short notice, including blood bank
Stops patient testing when QC or calibration says a run can't be trusted
Keeps records inspection-ready without a quality department to lean on
Explains a rejected specimen or a late result to an ER doctor without getting defensive
Builds a schedule that covers nights with a handful of techs and a call list
Works well with a director who is mostly reached by phone and email
Teach these on the job
Your accreditor's checklist and how it goes past CLIA
The lab budget, cost per test and reagent contract terms
Validating a new analyzer and writing the procedure for sign-off
Running a point-of-care program for the nursing units
Your LIS build, test codes and reference lab interface
Blood product ordering and stock levels with your blood supplier
The job runs on the lab information system and its link to the EHR, the analyzers' QC software, the proficiency testing provider's portal, and a document system for procedures and competency records. If the glucose meters report through their own data system, the manager owns that too.
Hospital laboratory manager interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Your own recent data should set each target. Volumes are small here, so one failed event or one slow night can swing a number; show the counts next to every rate.
Proficiency testing failures
Count unacceptable results by event, analyte and cause from each proficiency report. Note whether the corrective action was finished and signed by the director before the next event arrived.
Inspection deficiencies
Count citations from each state survey or accreditor inspection, sorted by standard. Flag repeats from the last inspection, and run a mock inspection of your own in the year between.
Competency assessments completed on time
Keep a due date for each tech and each test, counted from their first day testing patients, with the extra first-year check. Report how many were done before the due date, and flag upcoming ones a month ahead.
ED lab turnaround time
For stat ER tests, minutes from the lab receiving the tube to the result being released, from LIS time stamps. Choose one start point and keep it, then review the slowest results each week by shift.
Lab cost per test
Total lab cost, including staff, reagents, service contracts and reference lab fees, divided by billable tests for the same period. Track send-out costs on their own to spot tests worth bringing in-house.
Who is responsible for the lab, the manager or the laboratory director?
Under CLIA, the laboratory director answers for the whole lab. That stays true when the director hands duties to others. The director must also put in writing who does what: which tests each person may run, and which results need a second look before they go out. The manager runs the lab day to day. They may also hold a CLIA role, such as technical consultant or general supervisor, if they meet its rules.
How much does a hospital laboratory manager make?
Medical and health services managers who work for general medical and surgical hospitals earned a median of $134,050 a year ($64.45 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $107,390 and $172,180 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
What qualifies a lab manager as technical consultant or general supervisor?
CLIA sets the minimums. A technical consultant oversees moderate complexity tests. With a bachelor's degree in lab science, they need at least two years of nonwaived lab work in the areas they oversee, or four years with an associate degree. A general supervisor oversees high complexity tests. With a bachelor's, they need at least one year of high complexity work, or two years with an associate degree. Where state law licenses lab workers, they need that license too.
Does a hospital lab need CAP accreditation?
No. A lab running moderate or high complexity tests needs either a certificate of compliance, issued after a survey by the state agency or CMS, or a certificate of accreditation through a CMS-approved accreditor. CMS's list includes CAP, COLA, The Joint Commission and AABB. Both kinds of certificate last two years. Some states add their own lab rules, so check with your state agency as well.
How much bench time should a lab manager expect?
With only a few techs, plan on regular bench shifts plus call. Then protect time for the paperwork that can't slip: QC review, proficiency reports, competency checks and the file for the director's visits. Ask candidates how they kept records current while short of staff. Put the bench time in the posting, because a manager who expected an office job is likely to leave.
Should we promote a lead tech or hire a lab manager from outside?
A strong lead tech already knows your analyzers, doctors and nurses. What they may lack is budget, contract and inspection experience. If you promote, pair them with your director and an outside mentor, and pay for a lab management course. An outside hire may bring fresh inspection experience, but will need time to learn your people and your quirks.
