Define the job of a healthcare administrator, a healthcare MBA program, and healthcare administration as an industry.
Healthcare administration is the overall management of a hospital, healthcare facilities, medical centers, clinics, rehabilitation centers, community centers, and other facilities that provide patient care and/or rehabilitation. Healthcare administrators or managers are healthcare professionals in charge of the leadership, maintenance and marketing of these facilities. The best training for a healthcare professional to become an administrator is from a Healthcare MBA program.
An MBA Healthcare Management degree is offered by business schools, not medical centers or institutions, although schools and hospitals work hand in hand as affiliates and training partners. It is a 2-year graduate degree course that is more focused on the training in management than in health care. Would-be hospital managers need the best training in leadership and management since the tasks at hand are huge.
In the United States, the minimum requirement to becoming a healthcare administrator is a post-university degree in healthcare administration. It may be from an MBA Healthcare or the more common Master’s of Science in Healthcare. The former is more focused on management, while the latter on health care, but either is fine.
There are other equivalent programs that qualify individuals to become hospital managers. As recognized and accredited by the Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) on behalf of the United States Department of Education, the other applicable degree programs are Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA), Master of Public Health (MPH), MBA Hospital Management (MBA-HM), Master of Health Administration (MHA), and Master of Public Administration (MPA). Most of these are offered online.
Graduates from any of these programs may apply for key leadership positions in health care centers across the country. People with scholastic experience and training in an MBA program are the most qualified individuals in running a busy and very dynamic organization such as a hospital. Recently, the country has seen a steady rise in the hospital industry, which means potentially more job opportunities for healthcare professionals.
While the first semesters and courses in MBA are dedicated to business and leadership-related courses, the rest of the time are for healthcare education. The most common management courses are economics, marketing, leadership, statistical analysis, accounting, human resources, assessment, operations management, and information systems management. Meanwhile, the leading graduate-level courses in health care are healthcare economics, healthcare policies, organizational behavior, healthcare marketing and communications, and ethics.
Other coursework involves subject areas in nursing, psychology, nutrition, and public well-being. While healthcare administrators are not doctors or physicians, it is necessary that they have at least the most basic understanding of how healthcare is provide. This is why included in the program are courses in medicine, nursing and behavioral science.
Not all students in MBA healthcare may decide to work as healthcare managers. The program is also offered to doctors and nurses who wish to become senior physicians or supervising nurses. Other graduates may choose from different job positions such as primary care giver, nutritionist, head pharmacist, psychologist and others.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), people in key leadership positions in hospitals and healthcare centers are well-paid and highly satisfied. Hospital managers, senior physicians and nursing supervisors receive about double of what other hospital personnel are earning. The two years and tuition costs spent on an MBA program are definitely worth it.
Healthcare administrators are among the busiest professionals in the country. They manage facilities that take care of people and where lives are on the balance. To properly and efficiently handle critical cases involving lives and people’s welfare, it is much helpful to have been trained in a Healthcare MBA program.
