Most people walk into a hospital and all they see are doctors, gurneys, needles, and nurses. But behind all that is a tremendous team of secretaries, accountants, professionals, and administrators, all working together to ensure the success of the hospital both as a service institution and as a business.
Why should I consider a degree in Health Administration?
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Department statistics, “Employment of medical and health services managers is expected to grow 16 percent from 2008 to 2018, faster than the average for all occupations” (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos014.htm). Unlike other fields where labor demand waxes and wanes over time in relation to the economy, the medical field guarantees somewhat constant demand because people will always need health care.
Health care administrators also receive competitive compensation. The median annual wage in 2008 was $80,240, with the middle 50% earning between $62,170 and $104,120 (ibid.). Compared to the 2008 median household income of $52,029 (www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/acsbr08-2.pdf), health care administrators do quite well.
One’s precise wages, however, will differ according to field, level of responsibility, and location. Generally speaking, median salaries rise as number of physicians in the practices rises. Large practices have more competitive wages.
What kind of education will I receive?
While you can sometimes get entry-level jobs with a bachelor’s degree, most health care administrators first earn their master’s. A health administration degree will often encompass both health care and management practices.
What will I do in Health Administration?
The field of health administration doesn’t limit one to just one line of work in the field. One may work as a
- Health Care Executive: Plan, coordinate, and deliver health care service either for a large organization or for a specialty practice
- Assistant Administrator: Work under the executive in executing similar responsibilities
- Clinical Manager: If you have training or experience in a particular area, you can work in your field of expertise by helping establish policy, procedures, and common practice, along with taking on other specific day-to-day responsibilities
- Health Information Manager: Every patient who enters a hospital or clinic has records. Help manage those records to best serve patients according to hospital policy and government regulation.
What kind of skills will I learn through this program?
As a health administrator, you will need to master a number of specific skills along with many general ones. For example, you will need to understand
- How to lead personnel in implementing programs and policies on both individual and state/nation-wide levels.
- How to ensure quick, efficient, and accurate communication between different departments of large and complicated organizations such as hospitals.
- Fiscal management, especially particular skills such as budgeting, purchase and acquisition, business expense management, and payroll operations.
- Human resource management, both in hiring/firing and with maintaining moral and managing turnover.
- Facilities management, including personnel and equipment assessment.
- Information management, which encompasses computer systems, records and filing, and data processing.
What degrees should I choose? What courses should I take?
And undergraduate degree will take 4 years, and most master’s programs will take another 2-3. All told, you will have ample opportunity to learn many different things, both in your area of focus and without. That being said, one desiring to work in health administration should choose and undergraduate degree with an eye toward graduate school. A number of programs will take outstanding undergraduates with degrees in business or health administration, but many prefer those with degrees in other areas. Competition is fierce, so one must maintain an above-average GPA to maximize chances of admission. The good news is that, for a bachelor’s degree, one should study in a field that interests them and where one can perform well. At the same time, prior experience in health care can also give one an important advantage.
After graduating, all state require health care administrators in certain areas (e.g. nursing care facility administrators) to pass a licensing examination and to seek continuing education. Other forms of administration do not require a license. Nonetheless, certification in specific areas such as health information management can increase employability and expand opportunity. After being hired, most practices present opportunities to qualify for higher levels of management.
Where can I get a degree?
Most states offer accredited programs in health administration. The specific degree that you consider will depend on the exact field that you want to go into, though health administration is often flexible enough that one specific degree won’t lock you into one specific area for the rest of your life.
You might see these degrees listed at your institution:
- Health Care Administration
- Nursing: Leadership in Health Care Systems
- Health Services Managment
- Public Health (Management of Health Systems)
- Health Care Information Technology
What now?
The Health Administration world is wide, but your opportunities are many. A Google search for “health administration” will return more than 100 million results. Don’t let the information overwhelm you. Talk to a career counsellor or get in touch with a local university’s staff. They can guide you and help you plan your future in health administration.
