We often hear about business and sports management. However, today we will discuss healthcare management. Do you have any idea what healthcare management is? Well, to make you understand, let us give you the example of sports.
You must have seen that players and teams need management in every sport to manage their activities and ensure everything runs smoothly. Similarly, doctors and medical facilities need healthcare management to carry out operations smoothly.
The role of healthcare management is crucial in all hospitals, clinics, and other health facilities since it monitors day-to-day operations and makes sure that the medical facility has enough resources, such as land, labor and capital, to function smoothly.
Besides managing the resources, healthcare managers also deal with the staff operating in the medical facilities. For example, they ensure that doctors, nurses and other staff cooperate with each other and fulfill their duties in the best way possible.
The need for healthcare management was not felt much a few decades ago. However, as technological developments took place and more people started turning towards hospitals and medical facilities, the need for healthcare management was realized.
Recently, many universities have started offering bachelor’s and master’s degrees in healthcare management. However, if you want to pursue further education in this field, you might want to consider MBA in healthcare management from Walsh University since no additional tests, such as GRE or GMAT are required to enroll in this course. Moreover, the degree of MBA in healthcare management offered by Walsh university takes only one year to complete. In contrast, other universities offer the same course in almost double the time frame.
Now you may think, what is the point of doing healthcare management, and what careers can you opt for after getting a formal education in healthcare management? This article will show you the future career options available for individuals pursuing degrees in healthcare management.
- Health administrator
Any individual can work as a healthcare administrator after pursuing an education in healthcare management. The role of a healthcare administrator is to organize the current operations and plan future operations to ensure everything runs smoothly.
The job of a health administrator is to look after the supply and demand of products needed by the medical facility. A healthcare administrator also manages the record of patients and interacts with the staff to make sure the patients do not have to suffer any inconvenience.
To become a healthcare administrator, individuals need to have administrative and organizational skills to organize the operations of the entire medical facility. Moreover, they should also have good communication skills since they are responsible for communicating with the entire staff to coordinate their work. Other than that, since health administrators also have to fulfill the duties of an administrator, they should know how to apply negotiation skills in the workplace.
People who aspire to become health administrators but lack administrative, organizational and communication skills can take courses to develop the skills required for this job.
- Clinical research manager
Another occupation that people with healthcare management degrees can opt for is clinical research manager. The occupation of a clinical research manager requires technical knowledge and an aptitude toward research since the job of a clinical research manager revolves around directing and carrying out clinical research.
Moreover, clinical research managers must also manage the available resources to carry out the research. Furthermore, they are also responsible for keeping a check on the funds provided by the government for clinical trials and ensuring the government’s aid is used in the most efficient manner.
Individuals who consider themselves to be research oriented and have analytical skills should consider a clinical research manager job. However, having an interest in research will not be enough to do full justice to this job, since it also requires skills related to financial planning and budget management. To acquire these skills, individuals can take relevant courses offered by different universities or simply sign up for online courses.
- Health information managers
If any individual wants to do healthcare management and work with data and on computers, he/she should consider the position of health information manager. This job suits people who like to work with data since a healthcare information manager deals with patients’ data and directs others on how to manage it.
However, if you really want to excel in this job, then you must have some knowledge or experience in operating a computer. Any individual interested in IT will do wonders in this job since it is all about managing the electronic record of patients in a medical facility.
This job would look attractive to many people who have good IT skills. However, besides good IT skills, this job also requires a presence and sharpness of mind, since health information managers are also responsible for securing patients’ data.
Aside from that, any individual who wants to be a health information manager must possess leadership and managerial skills, as they often have to supervise skilled employees from different departments, for example, medical coding staff and other IT professionals. Therefore, individuals must take IT and management courses to increase their skill set and become more suitable for this job.
- Clinical manager
When you enter a medical facility, you see things happening in an organized way, but have you ever thought who is ensuring this smooth flow of work? Well, today, you will finally get to know that the professional who makes sure a medical facility runs smoothly daily is a clinical manager.
The job of a clinical manager suits sociable people and extroverts the most. The reason behind it is that the job of a clinical manager requires a lot of interaction with the nursing staff, laboratory staff and physicians daily. This job is relatively less technical than health information and clinical research managers.
The nature of this job is to mainly manage the schedules, set goals for the departments, and ensure the staff’s efficiency and productivity. However, great organizing and planning skills are required to carry out these tasks. Clinical managers are currently in demand since medical facilities are also looking to allocate their resources more effectively and efficiently nowadays. In addition, the salary of a clinical manager is above the average in the US, making the job more attractive.
- Pharmaceutical quality manager
If you find healthcare management interesting, but you do not want to work in a medical facility, there is no need to worry because you can switch your industry and start working as a pharmaceutical quality manager.
The job of a pharmaceutical quality manager is to ensure that the quality of the pharmaceutical products are up to the mark and comply with the rules of the FDA. To do that, the pharmaceutical quality managers test drugs and prepare reports highlighting the drug manufacturing process in detail.
To carry out these tasks, pharmaceutical quality managers must have great knowledge about drug manufacturing and the regulations of the FDA. Moreover, they should also have excellent management skills since they must manage a team of professionals who ensure the quality of pharmaceutical products.
Other than that, pharmaceutical managers are also responsible for making policies to limit the production of defective products and ensure they are not marketed. Since the job of a pharmaceutical manager is quite technical and bears much responsibility, the pay scale of this job is also high. The salary of a pharmaceutical quality manager is almost double the average salary in the US.
However, to become a pharmaceutical quality manager, it is important to have problem-solving skills and the usual planning and management skills.
- Insurance specialist
The job of an insurance specialist is very different from most of the jobs associated with healthcare management jobs. The job of an insurance specialist is purely administrative since it requires the ability to keep records of the patients claiming health insurance and make adjustments to their bills.
However, besides administrative skills, insurance specialists should also possess investigative skills and think critically. Only then will they be able to judge whether the clients’ insurance claims are correct.
To become an insurance specialist, individuals require administrative skills. Aside from that, they must develop analytical skills to become suitable for this job. The average salary of an insurance specialist is relatively low. However, it depends on the individual’s skill and the policy of the hiring medical facility.
Conclusion
Healthcare management is a field that significantly supports the healthcare industry since it focuses on the management side and ensures that the operations in a medical facility run smoothly.
Healthcare management opens a lot of different types of career options. Anyone who wants to work within the medical facility can acquire jobs as a health administrator and clinical manager. However, if people want to work away from the hospital environment, they can become pharmaceutical quality managers.
Regardless of any type of job a person chooses after obtaining formal education in healthcare management, all the jobs are respectable and highly paid.
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