What is the Job of a Healthcare Administrator?
What kind of healthcare jobs exist for people with strong leadership skills, who are great at connecting with others, and at the same time, enjoy developing, coordinating and overseeing a facility’s services? If you have found yourself ever contemplating this question and can relate to these traits, then the rapidly expanding field of healthcare administration may be the perfect fit for your next career.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), healthcare administration careers are on the rise. Between the years of 2014 and 2024, the BLS states, the number of jobs in this field alone are expected to grow by 17% which is considerably higher than any other job field.
To put this into numbers, we are talking over 56,000 new jobs within the next ten years and this may be a low estimate. As of 2014, there were about 333,000 healthcare administrators working across the United States. But what exactly do they do?
The “Face” of the Healthcare Community
Healthcare administrators wear a variety of hats. They even have multiple names depending on the scope and magnitude of the facility that employs them. In clinics and hospitals, they are known as health services managers or executives and in smaller, private sectors like clinics or research labs, they are referred to as healthcare supervisors.
Regardless of their official title, they are primarily responsible for the organization, management and coordination of clinical provisions. They are the face in charge of either single or multiple departments of hospitals or health centers. While healthcare administrators share the common vision of providing the best possible care to every patient within the facility, many times, they are behind the scenes. They are providing employees with feedback, addressing concerns and creating a better environment from the inside out for every patient who enters.
What are some Healthcare Administrator Duties?
- Recognizing current healthcare guidelines in relation to their facility.
- Serving as the face of a particular department or clinic for the public eye.
- Directing modifications that reflect new healthcare regulations.
- Upholding ethics, morals, values and protecting patient rights across the board.
- Day-to-day input on financial reports, marketing strategies, and application of approaches that reflect open communication, and principled business practices.
A variety of medical facilities will need the services of a healthcare administrator, from a traditional hospital setting to a mental health facility or clinic and everything in between. Another plus about this field is that you do not need years of previous experience to qualify. Many job opportunities are perfect for entry-level employees with an applicable four-year degree.
You Decide Your Role
Many of these duties greatly hinge on the type of facility that employs the healthcare administrator. For example, a healthcare manager or executive working in an assisted-living environment would require a comprehensive knowledge of Medicare along with other government regulations regarding social security and benefits for seniors or disabled patients.
While a healthcare administrator at a hospital may be in charge of a particular department and would need skills in supervision, fiscal and business planning, leadership, and may even be called upon to address the community on hospital initiatives. Knowing this, you can choose a narrower focus at a small, private facility, or vice versa for a larger healthcare center.
Other leadership jobs in the healthcare setting that may serve as an excellent transition for a healthcare administrator include human resources managers, who utilize many of the same skills to oversee the employment process and bridge the gap between administration and staff. There are also many parallels between healthcare administration and the field of underwriting, particularly for insurance companies since healthcare administrators have a strong backbone in policy, reform and insurance regulations.
Do you think you have what it takes to be a visible member of a healthcare team? If you want to earn a Bachelor of Science in Health Science with a Concentration in Healthcare Administration, consider ECPI University for your education. With accelerated classes and a year-round schedule, you could earn your degree in as little as 2.5 years! For more information about this or another health science program, connect with a helpful admissions counselor today.
It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!
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Gainful Employment Information – Healthcare Administration - Bachelor’s
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