Director of Care Management / Population Health Recruiters
Healthcare Headhunters recruits healthcare professionals for employers. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
This is what we do all day: recruit healthcare professionals.
Hire a Director of Care Management / Population Health who can connect discharge planning, longitudinal outreach, and accountable team leadership within your actual service model.
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
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What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
What does an open seat cost you every week?
An open role costs you more than the recruiting fee. Someone covers the work, waits for care, or stops a service. We ask what is falling behind and who is carrying it. Use your own figures to compare the cost of waiting with the cost of hiring.
The seat is costing you every week.
Overtime, diverted patients, a stretched team and a schedule held together by favors.
The posting brought the wrong people.
Applicants arrive, but the person who has done this exact work is employed and not looking.
You are the one chasing.
Screening calls, no-shows and follow-ups land on the desk of someone with a facility to run.
What does this hire really come down to?
A hospital care management director and a population health director may carry similar titles but own different work. We start by identifying your scope: inpatient transitions, ambulatory care coordination, attributed patient panels, or a combined program. That distinction shapes which leadership backgrounds belong in your search.
For hospital-based leadership, ask how the candidate handles discharge barriers, avoidable delays, and disagreements between care managers and treating teams. A useful answer names the director’s decision, the escalation route, and the follow-up. It should distinguish operational oversight from clinical decisions made by licensed practitioners.
Look for decisions about panel definitions, referral closure, patient engagement, and staff workload. If your role combines both settings, test how information reaches the next team after discharge.
What do we check before you see anyone?
Scope ownership: Ask, “Which functions reported to you, and which decisions stayed with another leader?” Listen for clear boundaries across nursing, social work, physician leadership, analytics, and payer relations. A broad title alone does not establish relevant experience. Daily team direction: Ask, “What did you review at the morning huddle, and what changed afterward?”
- Strong answers describe unresolved discharge barriers, overdue outreach, assignment changes, and named escalation owners rather than attendance at meetings.
- Measurement: Ask, “Which measure looked better without proving patient follow-through?” Useful answers distinguish completed calls from resolved needs and explain how the candidate checked definitions, missing data, and reporting periods.
- Clinical credentials: Confirm any license your position needs, including RN licensure when nursing practice falls within the role. Ask how the candidate’s duties depended on that license. Treat optional care management certifications as preferences unless your position specifies otherwise.
- Cross-team decisions: Ask, “How did you handle a referral that neither team accepted?” Look for an agreed owner, documented handoff, and escalation process. We screen credentials, work history, and fit; you complete your credentialing and clinical assessment.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
For inpatient scope, we consider leaders from hospitals, health systems, and integrated delivery organizations with care management responsibilities. We distinguish direct oversight of discharge planning from adjacent quality or administrative work. The reporting structure matters as much as the employer type.
For longitudinal programs, relevant backgrounds may include medical groups, accountable care organizations, health plans, and community-based care coordination programs. Candidates may consider moving for clearer decision authority or a different patient population. We ask about those reasons rather than assuming title growth explains their interest.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is combining hospital discharge oversight and payer-facing population work without naming the primary assignment. Candidates need to know where they spend their day and which outcomes they own. Another is accepting dashboard fluency as proof of operational leadership. Ask what the candidate changed when outreach failed or discharge barriers repeated.
Listing RN licensure automatically for an administrative role, or omitting it when assigned duties include nursing practice. Resolve that distinction before outreach.
How would we run the search for this opening?
Tell us which teams report to this director, who owns clinical decisions, and where patients move between services. We screen candidates against that scope using examples of staffing decisions, handoff failures, and outcome review. Use final interviews to settle decision authority, escalation access, and boundaries with medical leadership.
Define the operating scope
We also clarify schedule expectations, reporting relationships, technology, and any license tied to assigned duties. Name the problems the new director must address first.
Compare evidence
You receive a clearer basis for interviews than title matching. Your panel then tests the candidate’s judgment against your actual governance and resources.
Resolve ownership before hiring
Discuss what success will mean during the initial review period. Confirm that the candidate accepts the work itself, not merely the combined title.
Where this search connects
Quality, Patient Safety, Case Management & Compliance
SpecialtyHospitals & Health Systems
SettingSkilled Nursing & Post-Acute Care
SettingHome Health & Hospice
SettingBehavioral Health & Addiction Treatment
SettingDirector of Quality
Related roleInfection Preventionist / Director of Infection Prevention
Related roleChief Compliance Officer
Related roleDirector of Case Management
Related roleNational median annual wage. SOC 11-9111, Medical and Health Services Managers.
BLS reports Medical and Health Services Managers as one occupation. It does not publish a separate estimate for Director of Care Management / Population Health, its setting or its engagement terms.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025-05, released 2026-05-15. View source. See the full guide.
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Should our combined care management and population health role require an RN license?
Base that decision on assigned duties, not the title alone. If the director will perform or oversee duties that require nursing licensure, specify the applicable license. Your clinical leadership should settle the scope before we begin screening. For population health leadership, ask how the candidate turns a patient list into assigned outreach, documented follow-through, and measurable results.
Can a health plan leader direct our inpatient care management team?
Possibly, but payer-side experience does not prove familiarity with hospital discharge operations. Ask for examples involving bedside team coordination, discharge barriers, and hospital escalation routes. Compare those examples with the authority this director will hold.
How do we test experience with patient outreach programs?
Ask the candidate to explain how patients entered an outreach queue and who acted when contact failed. A useful answer connects staffing, documentation, referral closure, and outcome review. It also identifies what the program could not control.
What should our interview panel ask about discharge delays?
Present a hypothetical case with an unresolved placement barrier and conflicting team opinions. Ask what the director would investigate, who would own the next action, and when escalation would occur. Assess leadership judgment without requesting treatment advice.
How should we evaluate a director who inherited an existing dashboard?
Ask which definitions they challenged and which team decisions changed after review. A credible answer separates reporting ownership from responsibility for results. Ask what evidence supported their interpretation.
What should you send us about this role?
Send us the role, where the person will work and what needs to change with this hire. We will ask about the work, not just the title. Share any license or schedule limits that could rule someone out before we begin the search.
Tell us whether your opening centers on hospital transitions, longitudinal population work, or both. We will build the search around those distinctions and the decisions your director must own.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
Which other positions in this family should you consider?
Director of Utilization Management · HEDIS / Stars Quality Manager (Health Plan)
What do you get at each step of the search?
Our process for every search: calibrate the seat with you, map the market, research the real people, reach out to each one personally, qualify them in live conversation, then hand you a short list with a written brief on each person and support through the offer.
Search Calibration
You get an agreed brief: the work, reporting line, credentials, schedule, and offer you can make.
Market Mapping
You get a search aimed at relevant backgrounds, including people working now who have not applied.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We check appropriate ways to reach the people identified for your search. You do not have to chase them yourself.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We explain your actual job and follow up with people who may consider a conversation.
Live Candidate Qualification
You see people we have spoken with about the work, interest, and practical fit, not an unread resume pile.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You get a written brief and support through interviews and offer discussions. You make the hiring decision.
How long will it take to see a short list?
That depends on the job, schedule, available people, and what your employer can offer. We discuss those constraints before outreach and update you as candidates respond. We do not promise a fixed shortlist date. We check the job brief before arranging interviews. Tell us which parts of the role you can change.
What if a candidate receives a counteroffer?
We ask why the person wants to move and discuss competing decisions before an offer. A counteroffer can still change their choice. Keep the duties and offer clear rather than assuming more money settles every concern. Tell us early if parts of your offer cannot change, so the candidate hears it from us first.
What are the replacement terms?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement. Ask us to walk through those terms before you sign, so you know how a replacement would work for your opening and who would start it.
What do we not do in a standard permanent search?
We do not bill standard contingency search by the hour or simply repost your job. Temporary coverage is a separate arrangement. Any retainer or different engagement must be agreed, not assumed. Tell us early if you need coverage while the permanent search runs.