Healthcare administrators manage the business aspects of healthcare facilities, ensuring quality of services, maintaining efficiency, and controlling finances. They evaluate staff performance, update patient records, and manage finances, requiring strong communication, math, and computer skills. A master’s degree and licensing may be required.
A healthcare administrator manages the various business aspects of a healthcare facility. It assesses the quality of services, maintains the overall efficiency of a center and controls financial matters. A person in this position might work in a hospital, private practice, nursing home, or residential treatment facility.
Administrators are committed to ensuring quality by evaluating the performance of healthcare professionals in their facilities. They meet regularly with physicians and staff members to discuss performance issues and new policies. Administrators often speak directly with patients to determine the quality of care received and resolve any concerns. Because so much time is spent dealing with staff and patients, healthcare administrators must have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
In healthcare facilities, patient records must be updated frequently to ensure that the information they maintain is completely accurate. It is the duty of a health care administrator to effectively maintain, organize, and update patient records. Therefore, administrators must be attentive to detail and be able to organize both electronic and physical records.
A person in this position also manages a facility’s finances, which may include planning and maintaining a budget, determining fees for medical services, managing patient accounts, and negotiating with insurance companies. Accounting tasks require administrators to spend a lot of time at the computer recording payment records and creating financial spreadsheets. It is vital that administrators have strong math and computer skills to ensure the successful management of a health center’s fiscal operations.
A career in health services administration can be demanding. One usually works long and varied hours, especially in hospitals and treatment facilities, which are open for 24 hours a day. In addition to scheduled hours, it is common for an administrator to assume an on-call status to handle emergencies at their facility. A health services administrator must also be willing to participate in seminars, meetings and fundraising activities. Occasionally these activities involve considerable travel and long hours.
Typically, a person pursuing a career as a health care administrator must obtain a master’s degree in health care or business administration. Many top universities offer accredited, specialized degree programs, which may include a year-long internship at a health center. Depending on the country or state of employment, completion of a licensing exam or certification program may be required before someone can secure employment in healthcare.
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