Healthcare is one of the fastest growing segments of the job market. Healthcare management will be and is in high demand. But what are the best healthcare management jobs?
The best healthcare management jobs vary from working inside a hospital to working in a medical practice or insurance office. Which job is the best for you really depends on where you want to focus your talents.
The healthcare management field is growing rapidly. There are plenty of opportunities available for someone just starting in their career or someone looking for a career change. Wherever you are in your path, it’s worth taking a look at these 10 best healthcare management jobs.
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What Types of Jobs Can You Get with a Healthcare Management Degree?
Not every job in healthcare means working with medicine or in a hospital. There are processes and procedures associated with every profession. Healthcare is no different. It is one thing to know what to do and another to know how and when to do it.
If you like the idea of working in the medical field, but you don’t necessarily want to be on the frontlines, there are lots of opportunities if you have the right skills and training.
It might also be a good idea to check out where to get a healthcare management certificate online!
So, if you are looking for a career in healthcare management, here are a few of the 10 best healthcare management jobs to look into:
- Medical Office Administrator or Manager
- Assisted Care Facility Healthcare Manager
- Ambulatory Health Facility Manager
- Healthcare Clinic Manager or Director
- Home Health Care Administrator or Manager
- Healthcare Human Resources Manager
- Health Information Manager
- Hospital Administrator
- Director of Nursing or Chief Nursing Director
- Quality Pharmaceutical Health Care Manager
While these are all great positions, you may have to work your way up to them. Start with entry level jobs in healthcare management, and work your way up to your dream job!
The 10 Best Healthcare Management Jobs Out There
Let’s take a look at the 10 best healthcare management jobs out there and how you can find the perfect fit for your future.
1. Medical Office Administrator or Manager
A medical office administrator may also be called a medical executive assistant or healthcare office manager. A medical office administrator is the backbone of a physician or medical office. A medical office administrator is a person at the front desk that takes patients’ insurance information and get them ready for the doctor’s visit. But a medical office administrator or manager’s job entails much more tasks that are vital for a medical office.
- Scheduling appointments
- Processing insurance claims
- Getting lab results to the right place
- Ordering medical supplies
- Managing a team
While traditionally medical executive assistants learned how to perform their duties with on-the-job training, today, most employers require some sort of secondary education. However they obtain it, a medical executive assistant should focus on these areas in their education:
- Medical terminology
- Insurance procedures
- Billing practices
2. Assisted Care Facility Healthcare Manager
The population in the United States is living longer, healthier lives. As Baby Boomers age, they don’t want to stop living a full life, even if they may need help occasionally. An assisted care facility can provide services to attend to everyday tasks such as
- Bathing
- Meals
- Social interaction
Assisted care facilities also provide more serious, long term care that usually involves medical services as well. An assisted care facility healthcare manager needs to knowledge to understand what their residents need and want. They also need the skills to manage the medical and non-medical staff as well as finances.
3. Ambulatory Health Facility Manager
Ambulatory care are facilities that provide outpatient care. In the not so distant past, most medical services required the patient to be admitted to a hospital for an extended stay. Today with the costs of medical care in hospitals and the many different types of care available, ambulatory care has been a steadily growing field. Not only do patients opt for same-day medical procedures where they can recoup at home, but many healthcare professionals are drawn to more flexible hours and less stressful working conditions.
While not always required, it is beneficial for an ambulatory health facility manager should have a master’s degree in:
- Business
- Healthcare management
- Health Administration
4. Healthcare Clinic Manager or Director
A healthcare clinic usually provides specialty medical services as well as normal medical services. This type of facility can provide:
- Urgent care
- Community services
- Reproductive services
- Dialysis
- Oncology
A healthcare clinic manager is responsible for the daily operations and functions of the clinic. A healthcare clinic director would oversee these same responsibilities across many different facilities.
- Personnel
- Training
- Policy and procedure
- Marketing
- Finances
A healthcare clinic manager or director should have the skills to manage a department and know the clinic’s main medical service. Organizational skills and knowledge are essential.
A healthcare clinic manager or director should obtain a master’s degree in
- Business
- Healthcare management
- Health Administration
5. Home Health Care Administrator or Manager
More and more people are opting to stay in their homes as they grow older. This can add stress to family members that are leading their own lives and don’t have the skills and time they need to properly
tend to the needs of their loved ones. A home healthcare service may be the answer for those individuals struggling with these types of decisions.
Nurses, nursing assistants, and helpers are in high demand. Because of the constant need for more help as more and more people want help to come to them in their homes, the home healthcare manager’s main job is recruiting.
Balancing the needs of the staff as well as those of clients means the ability to create and maintain constantly changing schedules is an essential task. Add to this organizational skills, and you have the skillset to become a home healthcare administrator or manager.
A bachelor’s degree is necessary, but to advance further in their career, someone interested in becoming a healthcare administrator or manager should work on a master’s degree in:
- Business
- Healthcare management
- Health Administration
6. Healthcare Human Resources Manager
Not all jobs in healthcare work directly with patients or clients. Someone has to find the right people with the proper credentials to fill all those positions. Meet the healthcare human resources manager.
Working in healthcare requires a certain personality along with specific skillsets. A human resources manager in the healthcare field knows what to look for and there are many reasons to pursue a degree in human resources. A job in human resources in the healthcare field can mean working in any of these types of locations:
- Doctor’s office
- Hospital
- Nursing home or assisted care facility
- Urgent care or ambulatory facility
- Healthcare clinic
To be successful in a career as an HR professional in the healthcare industry, you need to possess specific skills:
- Ability to communicate well and present yourself.
- Basic computer knowledge and familiarity with human resources software
- Understanding of the healthcare field
To become a healthcare human resources manager, a bachelor’s degree in human resources is required, and a master’s with a healthcare focus is recommended.
7. Health Information Manager
A health information manager works with data. They are in charge of the information flow within the medical facility. This could mean handling many different layers of information, both digital and physical.
- Handling medical records securely and with integrity.
- Creating, implementing, and enforcing policies and procedures
- Maintaining documentation.
- Ensuring all services provided are compliant with governmental and audit standards.
- Maintaining awareness of trends in information technology and cybersecurity.
In the most basic description, a health information manager is responsible for the secure flow of information and data between all areas of the healthcare facility or service.
For this healthcare management job, a bachelor’s degree in health information management or technology is normally required, and a master’s is recommended. Certification in information technology is highly advised.
(Looking to get you cphq certification? Check out that article to find out more about it!)
8. Hospital Administrator
A hospital administrator is a person in charge of making sure the daily operations in a hospital are as smooth as possible. In today’s world, that can be a very big responsibility.
As a hospital administrator, some of your responsibilities would include:
- Supplies ranging from gauze pads and bandages to surgical supplies to PPE.
- Budgets and financial records.
- Ensuring staffing levels are where they need to be.
- Communication between staff as well as to the community.
- Ensuring the hospital and all the associated facilities meet regulations.
A hospital administrator can be a very busy and sometimes stressful job. You need patience and organizational skills, as well as the ability to multi-task to be successful in this position.
9. Director of Nursing or Chief Nursing Director
Nurses are one of the most important jobs in the healthcare field. They make sure their patients are well-cared-for. They assist the doctors in their jobs. Nurses are essentially the core of any type of healthcare service. The director of nursing or the chief nursing director administers all the nurses in a facility.
Some of the tasks a director of nursing or the chief nursing director would perform include:
Maintaining staffing levels- This means knowing when to hire and who ensures schedules are kept current.
Financial duties– A large part of a director of nursing’s role is creating budgets and presenting them to upper management. This also means keeping within those established budgets.
Management of the nursing staff- Once the staff is hired, they need to keep the credentials and training current.
Act as a liaison- Coordinating the communication between the patients, doctors, and other staff and the nurses is essential in a healthcare environment.
The director of nursing or the chief nursing director needs:
- good organization skills
- excellent management skills
- the ability to multi-task
and above all, patience to succeed.
10. Quality Pharmaceutical Health Care Manager
While you may not normally associate quality control with a job in healthcare management, this is a very needed position.
Medicines and medical procedures need to continuously improve. A quality pharmaceutical healthcare manager is the person that helps make this happen.
A quality pharmaceutical healthcare manager understands the patients’ needs and the physicians and all the services related to them. They suggest and run projects for new products as well as how processes in place can be improved.
They do this by knowing not only what is currently trending but anticipating future trends. At the same time, they are also responsible for ensuring all their projects meet compliance standards.
For those interested in a career as a quality pharmaceutical healthcare manager, an MBA, Master of Health Administration or healthcare management is recommended.
Is Healthcare Management Stressful?
Anytime you are working with people, especially those concerned about their health, it can be stressful. Nurses, doctors have to face varying stress levels every day, depending on where they work. Emergency rooms and hospitals would be much more intense than possibly working at a pediatrician or office administrator.
However, not all jobs in the healthcare management field work directly with people. Those positions can be stressful in their unique way. In this case, a position in healthcare management does not need to be any more stressful than any other job.
How do I Get a Job in Healthcare Management?
First, you need to research the different jobs available in the healthcare management field and determine where you feel you would fit best. Once you know where you want to go, look online to determine what you will need to get there. Most management jobs require at least a bachelor’s degree, with several needing a master’s degree of some sort.
Above all, when choosing a job in healthcare management, make sure you have not only the skillset, but the personality needed as well.
Healthcare Management is a Rewarding Career
A job in healthcare management can be a very rewarding career. Healthcare management is a rapidly growing field now, with even more growth expected in the future. The jobs here are 10 of the best healthcare management jobs out there, but that doesn’t mean they are the only ones. Take a personal assessment of where you want to be and set your goal to achieve the best job for you.
