About Health Administration

As the name suggests, the field of Health Administration is concerned with everything that has to do with the management of healthcare facilities. It is the practice of leading, overseeing and administering the operations of dynamic healthcare entities including hospitals, long-term care facilities, health care systems, nursing homes, pharmacies, and health insurance providers.

　　Health administration managers, also known as, health administrators are leaders who operate and guide the healthcare institutions through growth and change. It is a broad field with several branches to specialise in. It could be said that it is a linchpin of the healthcare system.

　　Health Administration is not to be confused with hospital/healthcare management. Healthcare management is concerned with organisation wide changes and the ‘big-picture’ needs whereas Health Administration is focused on individual department within healthcare system and their day-to-day tasks like budgeting and hiring.

　　

Is Health Administration right for me?

If you are an ambitious individual with exceptional leadership qualities, then this might be the right choice for you. A health administrator must be empathetic, adaptable and possess a high degree of emotional intelligence.

　　A health administrator is often required to function in a fast-paced environment and respond to issues in an effective and systematic manner. Qualities that define a well-rounded health administrator are integrity, management skills, analytical skills, strategic thinking, budget and finance management and process optimisation skills. If you think you possess these qualities or at the very least would like to foster them, then Health Administrations can be an apt field for you to pursue.

　　

Health Administration study options and costs

　　The first step in pursuing a career in Health Administration is to earn a bachelor’s degree in Health Administration or related field such as public health. A bachelor’s degree usually takes 3 to 4 years to complete. The average annual cost of a bachelor’s programme $17,291 per year.

　　After the completion of undergraduate programme, students have the option to opt for master’s in Health administration. The master’s programme usually takes 2 years to complete and costs around $18,961 per year. A master's programme in Health Administration include courses such as healthcare management, organisational behavior, healthcare policy, healthcare law, health economics, healthcare financing, and human resource management. Before enrolling in a master’s programme ensure that the programme is accredited for example in the US all Health Administration programmes are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME).

　　The option to earn a doctoral degree is also available for Health Administration scholars. You could earn a PhD in Health Administration. A PhD in Health Administration usually takes 3 years to complete with full-time study and costs around $24,218-$53,240.

　　

Future outlook

With the emergence of new viruses and more complex health conditions, the number of patients admitted in health care facilities has risen. To ensure the quality of health services, competent health administrators are needed that excel in organisational management. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the projected growth rate of employment of health services managers is 32%. This rate is almost quadruple the average rate of employment growth for all other occupations. The estimated job openings for healthcare administrators each year on average is a prodigious 51,800! These statistics make it bare that the future outlook for Health Administration is highly favourable.

　　

Career pathways for Health Administration graduates

　　

Health

　　As the name suggests, a health administrator is responsible for supervising the operations of a healthcare facility and/or hospital. The duties of a health administrator constitute, but are not limited to, ordering supplies for physicians, organising physician’s schedules, and navigating different medical software to bill the patients. They also access patient records and manage them in an organised manner.

Clinical Manager

　　As a clinical manager, you will be responsible for management of the entire facility. You will design and implement policy and manage billing services. You will also be required to schedule staff meetings and address any important issues at hand and train new employees.

Medical Billing Manager

　　Medical billing managers handle the billing paperwork for a healthcare organisation. Their job description includes verifying insurance contracts, managing staff in the health insurance department and billing payments.