5 Career Specialties for Health Administrators

Health care administrators guide organizations in the implementation and execution of critical tasks. [1] A rapidly growing consumer base has prompted officials to rethink medical services, targeting preventative medicine as a catalyst toward improved community wellness and creating opportunities for administrative health professionals to introduce innovative changes. Currently, managed care initiatives and organizational mergers drive changes, as health care professionals learn how to do more with less. As the medical field evolves, organizations increase the roles and responsibilities that executives must assume.

For prospective managers, now is the time to start thinking about how to take part in the health care realignment. The following five overviews provide insight into a few career possibilities for future health executives.

1.Hospital Manager and CEO

Hospital managers demonstrate special abilities and skills to run organizations efficiently. [2] They investigate and analyze enterprise issues and develop effective resolutions, while leading staff members with steadfast direction. Using this executive talent, hospital administrators align staff members’ goals with that of the organization.

Effective hospital managers understand that staff members may grow unsettled as organizations implement numerous new policies and procedures and therefore continuously oversee employee performance. Because of their skills, care provider organizations value hospital CEOs’ ability to maintain safe environments and strong financial health, rewarding each one with nearly $110,000 annually. [3]

2. Health Policy and Management Administrator

Various government agencies, groups, individuals, and insurance firms may bear the cost of health care services. [4] Health policy and management administrators supervise the delivery, quality, and finances required to provide treatments.

The United States health care system encompasses complex laws, ethical standards, and policies and procedures. Health policy and management administrators work with economic principles that may include:

• Cost reduction
• Cost-benefit analyses
• Disbursement incentives
• Financing
• Organizational payment policies
• Risk analysis

Managing these areas grows increasingly complex as Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates drives up the cost of doing business and reshapes how American’s access services.

Health policy and management administrators must also oversee the legal aspects of providing care, such as intellectual property, entitlement benefits, and patient privacy. On average, care provider organizations pay health policy and management administrators nearly $55,000 a year. [5]

3. Healthcare Marketing and Public Affairs Manager

Care provider organizations rely on media communications to deliver messages to the community. [6] The messages build organizational brands and educate consumers about wellness.

Organizations may title communications executives with varying designations, such as media specialists, marketing directors, or public relations managers. These executives typically have training in communications, journalism, marketing, or public relations. Experience in health care related marketing improves employment prospects job candidates. In the executive capacity, media managers earn a median salary of nearly $110,000 each year.

4. Health Informatics Specialist

Health informatics technology (HIT) specialists monitor and maintain the software and equipment that organizations use for daily operations. [7] This responsibility includes ensuring ongoing compliance with legal and organizational standards.

As innovations emerge, HIT specialists evaluate and implement new software and hardware. This may involve debugging, optimizing, and testing new components to ensure proper function in a live environment.

HIT specialists take part in creating the policies and procedures that guide staff members in legal and organizational compliance. On a daily basis, health information specialists identify areas for improvement, develop organizational training initiatives, and provide technical support to staff members, while earning around $61,000 annually,

5. Materials and Equipment Management

Materials and equipment management administrators oversee the purchase of equipment, goods, services and other organizational resources. [8] These innovative professionals possess articulate communication skills and serve as educators and mentors. A busy day for a manager in this discipline might involve tasks such as:

• Inventorying assets
• Making payments
• Ordering resources
• Receiving purchases
• Resolving payment discrepancies
• Reviewing the organizational budget

These managers also work with tasks such as contract negotiations, market analyses, purchase agreement evaluations, and strategic sourcing, as well as policy development and implementation for external vendors. Care provider organizations may also title this position as chief procurement officer (CPO) or chief revenue officer (CRO). Organizations typically hire candidates with 10 or more years of logistics experience, paying them nearly $75,000 annually.

As the American population ages, they require more medical attention, and as the health care industry expands, career prospects inflate for well-prepared executive candidates. [10] Administrators manage the decisions, finances, operations, and people needed to produce positive community wellness outcomes.

These individuals will lead and represent the organizations that improve public health in the United States. As care providers abandon paper in lieu of technology, patient client bases grow, and organizations join forces, career opportunities will open up for veteran executives in community health networks, hospitals, insurance companies, and state and federal health agencies.

Learn More

At Regis, we give you more pathways to pursue your goals in healthcare administration. As a dedicated leader of health administration education, we welcome ambition-driven, self-motivated professionals from all health care settings. Gain special insight into areas like management, communications, health informatics, and health policy through our Online Master of Health Administration.

Sources:

[1] https://www.ache.org/carsvcs/ycareer.cfm
[2] http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-administration/5-things-the-most-extraordinary-hospital-ceos-do.html
[3] https://www.indeed.com/salaries/Hospital+CEO-Salaries
[4] http://www.aspph.org/study/health-policy-management/
[5] https://www.indeed.com/salaries/Health-Policy-and-Management-Salaries
[6] http://work.chron.com/hospital-media-relations-specialist-salary-24998.html
[7] http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Health_Informatics_Specialist/Salary
[8] http://documents.goamp.com/Publications/candidateHandbooks/AHA-CMRP-handbook.pdf
[9] http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Materials_Manager/Salary
[10] http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2011/03/post-grad.aspx