So, what are some important things to keep in mind when it comes to getting a good healthcare administration job?
You Will Need to Have Good Management Skills
As a business manager, you need to be able to coordinate, direct, and supervise healthcare delivery so that it is done both efficiently and effectively in order to save costs. In general, you'll oversee either an entire facility or system, or you'll oversee a specific clinical department. Many healthcare administrators are doctors or nurses themselves.
You Will Need to Be Able to Adjust to Changes Quickly
Because healthcare's structure and financing is changing quickly, you'll need to be able to deal with changes in policy as they occur on both a governmental and local level. In addition, technology is advancing as well, which means that healthcare itself is becoming increasingly complex. Regulatory changes, too, are occurring all the time. You'll definitely need to keep abreast of all of these changes in order to be an effective healthcare administrator.
You Will Need to Be Able to See the ''Big Picture''
Because you need to be able to keep your finger on a number of different areas, whether you're focusing on an entire system or a specific department, you'll need to be able to multitask effectively in order to stay abreast of changes that occur not just in one area, but in a number of areas.
You Will Need the Appropriate Education
To become a healthcare administrator, you have to be familiar with management practices and principles in general. You'll need to have a master's degree in an appropriate field, such as business administration, public administration, public health, or the health sciences. Health services administration is another specific focus for a potentially useful master's degree. In some cases, you can start with a bachelor's degree if you begin at a smaller facility and in a single department. In other cases, in fact, you won't even need a formal degree and can gain on-the-job experience instead of having to get a master's or doctorate.
Healthcare administration degrees are offered at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral level by many higher education institutions. There are also several schools that deal specifically with medicine, public health, business, and health administration.
You Will Need the Appropriate Background
Whether or not you actually get an advanced degree in healthcare administration, you'll need to have the appropriate background and skills in order to be able to do the job properly. As a healthcare administrator, you will likely be responsible for facilities and equipment worth millions of dollars. Oftentimes, hundreds if not thousands of employees will work directly under you. Because of this, you'll need to be able to make decisions that are both cost-effective and as beneficial to all involved as possible.
You Will Need to Be Good at Analyzing and Making Sense of Contradictory Information
What does this mean for you? It means that you'll need to be able to collect information from others, analyze this information, and come up with a solution that is going to work out in the best way possible for everyone. Because you'll be responsible for large facilities and numerous employees, you can't be the eyes and ears everywhere. This means that you're going to have to rely on others' observations, and because you'll be relying on others for a lot of your information, you're going to have to be able to take that info, make sense of it, and come up with a good decision even if the information you get from your variety of sources isn't always consistent.
You Will Need to Have a Financial Background
Because healthcare administrators deal with expenses, bottom lines, cost effectiveness, and budget constraints on a daily basis, you'll need to have a strong financial background.
You Will Need to Be a Good Communicator
Because you're going to be dealing with a variety of people coming from a number of different backgrounds, you'll need to be able to communicate with people from their points of view and experiences.
You May Need to Know Something about Preventive Care
In some cases, healthcare administrators also educate the public about preventive care; this is especially true for those who work in managed care settings.
You Will Need to Like Working with People
When we think of the term ''administrator,'' we might think of a job that can be done largely in an office and in a solitary fashion. However, that is not usually accurate. Administrators have to be comfortable working with people from a variety of backgrounds, and they need to like working with people, too.
Conclusion
Becoming a healthcare administrator can lead to a very rewarding career. If you like working with people, are good with numbers, are good at management, and are good at making sense of lots of contradictory information, you might want to consider becoming a healthcare administrator for your career.
