Career Opportunities
Health Administration Career Opportunities:
The health care industry is expanding and diversifying. A baccalaureate degree in Health Administration opens the door to the administrative side of health care. Heath care managers have an enormous impact on the safety and quality of care patients receive from providers. Health care managers work with a variety of clinical and non-clinical professionals to improve the overall delivery of health care and make it available to larger numbers of people at lower costs.
Jobs in Health Administration :
Health care managers are in heavy demand in the public, private, for-profit and nonprofit health care sectors. Health care organizations of every size and type need leaders with strong health care management skills. Potential employers include:
- Hospitals
- Doctor’s offices
- Clinics
- Nursing homes/long-term care facilities
- Hospice facilities
- Research institutions
- Rehabilitation centers
- Mental health facilities
Promoting High Quality of Care Through Health Administration:
Experienced health care management professionals organize and manage the resources needed for effective health care delivery in all health care settings, and their responsibilities can cover a wide range of duties including:
- Managing hospitals, clinics, and provider’s offices.
- Setting long-range strategies for health care organizations.
- Acquiring and upgrading health care technology.
- Analyzing budgets and overseeing billing, insurance, and financial operations.
- Hiring and supervising doctors, nurses, and other specialized personnel.
- Developing marketing and public relations campaigns.
- Leading fund-raising activities.
- Setting performance and quality standards and measuring outcomes.
- Operating food service, gift shop, and volunteer services.
Potential Salaries:
The primary determining factors for salaries for health care managers will be the specific job title, specific responsibilities, applicable years of experience, geographic location of the job, and the type of health care organization. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the projected growth in field of health care management over the 2010-2020 timeframe is 22 percent. The median income for health care managers is $84,270 compared to $33,840 for other occupations. The lowest 10 percent of health care managers earned less than $51,280 annually, and the top 10 percent earned greater than $144,880 annually.
PayScale.com reports the following salaries for health care managers (based upon experience, education, and position):
Practice Managers | $ 30,750-$87,474 |
Operations Manager | $ 55,369-$98,336 |
Licensed Nursing Home Administrators | $ 61,042-$100,841 |
Practice Administrators | $ 50,000-$76,750 |
Executive Director | $ 32,179-$73,698 |
Assisted Living Executive Director | $ 45,781-$55,717 |