Jobs in Health Care Management

If you have the desire to help others and at the same time have very strong leadership skills, one way to combine these two interests is by becoming a health care manager. In this position, you will need to have a strong desire to provide excellent patient care, while balancing the financial concerns of your facility. It can be an interesting, rewarding, and challenging career. Like most jobs in the healthcare industry, the demand for competent managers will continue to increase through 2018. Here's more information about what health care managers do.

Job Responsibilities

As a health care manager you may be overseeing a specific department in a facility or the entire facility itself. You will report to a board of trustees, board of directors, or the director of CEO of the facility, depending on your level of authority. You will be responsible for ensuring quality patient care, while containing costs and doing as much as you can within the budget you've been given. It can sometimes be a thankless task, as you will often have to act as a liaison between unhappy patients, patient families, or health care providers and executives or administrators who sometimes have conflicting agendas.

You will also have to make sure that the organization is following all federal and local laws, regulations, and requirements, not just for health care but also when it comes to employment laws. Keeping track of changing regulations can be a very big job.

Additionally, you'll be managing employees, making sure staffing levels are adequate for patient care but not excessive, and depending on your position, you may handle employee disputes or similar situations.

You will need to be good at time management, organization, decision making, and adjusting to shifting priorities. Your work hours may sometimes be very long, so don't expect this to be a "9 to 5" job. Health care managers can also face a lot of stress and pressure, so if you don't do well in that kind of environment, think long and hard before pursuing this career.

Did you know? Health care managers earn an average annual salary of $80,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Education & Experience Requirements

There are two paths you can take to become a health care manager, and which one you take will depend on what kind of manager you want to be. As already mentioned, you may manage a specific department, or you may be helping an administrator or director to manage the entire facility. As a departmental manager, you may also have to have clinical experience related to the department you're going to manage. For example, if you want to manage the radiology department, you should be a licensed radiology technician or a radiologist with at least three to five years of clinical experience in that setting.

As a general facility manager, there is no clinical experience requirement, but having some work experience in a clinical setting will definitely give you a competitive edge.

Path A: Clinical Manager

To become a clinical manager, decide which healthcare department interests you most.

Let's use the earlier example of radiology. If that's the department you're interested in managing, you don't necessarily have to go to medical school and become a radiologist, which will take eight to ten years.

Another option is to earn an associate's or bachelor's degree in a radiology technician program and become a licensed technician. Then you can earn a master's degree in health care management or administration.

You could work as a technician while working on your master's degree. Then you will have all three requirements needed - education in the medical specialty, clinical experience, and a master's degree - to obtain a clinical manager position. Most organizations want their managers to have at least three or years of clinical experience as well as at least one to two years of management experience in a healthcare setting.

Path B: General Facility Manager

If you decide you want to pursue this path, don't think it will require less education. Because of the complex nature of the industry, many jobs require a master's degree or even higher level of education and management is one of those jobs. While you may be able to land a management job with a bachelor's degree and a few years of experience, you will not be promoted into jobs with more authority and responsibilities until you earn a master's degree in health care management or administration.

Most health care organizations require you to have experience working in the health care field for at least a few years as well. Be prepared to take an entry level position to give you the experience you need before becoming a higher level manager.

Benefits

After earning a master's degree and working several years, you may be able to land the management job you've been dreaming about. Once you do, you need to make sure it gives you the benefits you want. Of course a higher salary is one of those benefits that will come with the job. As a health care manager you can earn between $80,000 and$130,000 per year or more. You will also receive health insurance, life insurance, paid vacations and holidays, retirement savings accounts, and other benefits. Another benefit is the fact that you will be working a job that you enjoy while helping others.

Who's Hiring? Find a Health Care Job

Health Care Manager Jobs Summary:

• As a health care manager you will work long hours and be responsible for ensuring that your department or facility provides quality patient care within the organization's budget.
• You can take one of two career paths: either you will become a department manager, specializing in a specific field of health care; or you will become a general manager, working under the hospital administrator or director.
• You should plan to earn an advanced degree no matter which career path you choose.
• You can earn a salary of more than $100,000 per year in addition to great benefits and the reward of helping others and doing a job you enjoy.

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