Health Care Administration Careers and DegreesFind the information you need to get a degree and start your health care administration career Health Care Careers Home | Resource Center Home | Find Health Care Schools By Sarah Stevenson Health Care Careers and Degrees
Find Health Care SchoolsHealth care administration careers are a great career fit for business-savvy individuals with the desire to oversee and improve the management of health services. Broadly speaking, health care management coordinates the delivery of health care in facilities ranging from hospitals and clinics to insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Additionally, health care administration attends to the regulatory and technological changes that affect health care delivery systems. Where Can I Work With a Health Care Administration Degree?A health care administration degree prepares you to work in a wide range of environments. Health care managers in the private sector are employed in the following organizations:
Those choosing to work in the public sector can find employment in such agencies as:
Some health care administrators may choose to work for health care management companies that provide services to hospitals and other organizations. Our health care administration career resource center will help you find current information on the following popular health care career fields, as well as up-to-the-minute data on health care salaries: Career Options for Health Care AdministratorsHealth Information Technology: The Information Backbone of Health Care AdministrationHealth information technology is a rapidly expanding field that addresses the need for efficient and accurate handling of health information such as patient data, billing and other electronic records. Those starting at the entry level are usually medical records technicians, medical coders, health information specialists or even insurance claims analysts. Health information managers, whose earning potential is impressive compared to many health care salaries, manage junior personnel such as technicians. They also oversee the maintenance and security of a facility's patient records as well as keeping up with technological and regulatory changes. Health Care Administration in Hospitals, Clinics and Other FacilitiesDepartment directors, clinical operations managers, hospital administrators and other management professionals work in every type of hospital and care facility. Managers in smaller facilities generally handle daily operational details such as personnel, finance, facility operations and resident care. In large facilities, health care managers may work with several assistant administrators to direct activities in specific clinical departments such as nursing, surgery, or health information systems. They establish and implement health care systems and procedures; evaluate personnel and work; develop reports and budgets; and coordinate activities with other managers. Health care administration also includes generalist positions, which entail overseeing the activities of the facility as a whole, or a number of facilities. Getting started in this area of health care administration requires knowledge of the ins and outs of the industry, as well as leadership skills; higher-level administrators therefore may start as associate managers in a specific department. Health care technician jobs may also lead to eventual work in administration, managing a particular clinical department such as radiology or pharmacy. Health Care Administration Jobs in Medical Office ManagementMedical office managers handle the day-to-day operations of a physician's office, medical group, hospital department or government health agency. They oversee medical records management as well as human resources, billing, benefits, scheduling and the many other business requirements of a medical office. Those with some formal training, such as an associate's degree or medical assistant certificate, may start as a medical secretary or office assistant before gaining the experience needed to become an office manager. Health Care Administration Degree OptionsAssociate's Degrees in Health Care AdministrationAn associate's degree in arts (AA) or applied sciences (AAS) in the field of health care administration will prepare you for an entry-level career, such as medical office assistant. Health care technician and medical coder jobs also require an associate's degree and, in some cases, additional certification such as Certified Professional Coder (CPC). Bachelor's Degrees in Health Care AdministrationA bachelor's degree in health care administration or health services management qualifies graduates for entry-level positions, for the most part; a few senior-level positions in smaller operations, and possibly middle management jobs in smaller facilities, may also be an option. Most administrative positions, however, including senior-level and executive roles, require a master's degree or an MBA in health care management. Graduate Degrees in Health Care AdministrationThe Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education accredits graduate-level programs in health care administration. Master's degrees generally fall into two categories:
Master's programs in health care administration offer specialized training that concentrates almost exclusively on health care management. Alternatively, MBA programs teach a general set of management skills and provide instruction about health care management practices through specialized elective courses. Doctoral programs offer even more focused training on issues in health care management. Health information managers, in contrast, may choose to pursue a master's degree in health information technology from a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education. However, a bachelor's degree may be sufficient in this highly specialized field. |
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