Getting your degree in healthcare administration opens various job opportunities for you to consider. Below, you’ll learn about various careers in healthcare administration, job outlook and how to get your degree in healthcare administration.
One career path that a healthcare administration degree can lead to is management of a medical office. This role entails responsibility for the daily operations of a physician’s office, including creating and tracking the office budget. An office manager with a healthcare administration degree can work either in a public medical office or for a private practice. An office manager must be skilled in billing, coding, collections and appointment making.
Healthcare administration graduates who are interested in the financial side of the medical field may find a satisfying career working with companies as insurance specialists or medical reimbursement specialists. These professionals help patients navigate and select payment plans for their medical bills and work with insurance companies to determine billing and policy needs.
Businesses that provide health services may not need to hire a healthcare administrator right away, but may choose to hire a consultant who can help them identify the services they need to offer. As a consultant, you would analyze data, present findings and help clients understand how to run their businesses. It is helpful to have a solid understanding of business concepts as well as strong communication and presentation skills.
As a consultant, you can even work in health law, ensuring that clients are meeting local, state and federal rules while navigating contracts and other legal documents. This role entails representing clients like hospitals or healthcare facilities in legal disputes, so a good law degree is essential.1
Although this job may not initially seem healthcare-specific, your healthcare administration skills will shine through as you support employees through training and by understanding their needs as healthcare workers. A healthcare administration graduate working in human resources works to fill open positions, support employees through training and managing payroll and medical benefits.
A social and community service manager works to improve wellness conditions for the community. A professional in this role creates and coordinates programs that serve families and individuals in the community.2 If you want to advance quickly in this career and you enjoy the social work aspect, consider earning a Master of Social Work after graduating with your undergraduate degree.
The field of health services isn’t just about the services provided, but also about products, including pharmaceutical drugs. As a pharmaceutical product manager, you would be responsible for supervising teams of professionals producing these products, from the conception stage through marketing.1
People in health informatics can conduct research and apply their findings to improve processes and propose solutions to technical, clinical and organizational challenges. Health informatics professionals also impact enhanced delivery of care, improved health outcomes and advanced patient education.
As a health department professional, you can work at the federal, state or local level. You would be responsible for leading efforts to keep the spread of disease to a minimum in your community. A governmental health services career is about serving the community and promoting incentives and programs that raise health awareness in the public mind.
Those with a degree in healthcare administration can also choose to follow a university career path. There are many options for health service professionals within a university, including the following occupations:
-
Clinical Placement Coordinator: Professionals in this role are responsible for managing and tracking the overall student clinical experience. They help students manage expectations and requirements and partner with students and faculty to find the best placement option for each student.
-
Campus Health Services Worker: For those with a healthcare administration degree, another interesting university job is working with campus health. Although campus health may initially bring on-campus nurses to mind, there is more to it than providing care for students, including educating students on staying healthy.
-
Assistant Professor/Professor: Professors are needed in almost every field, including health services. A healthcare administration degree is a good starting point on the way to teaching students in the healthcare field, but becoming a professor requires work experience and additional degrees, including a doctoral degree, so make sure you know all the steps to becoming a college professor before you embark on your journey.
