Is a Career in Healthcare Administration Right for You?

Have you always been interested in the behind-the-scenes perspective of how hospitals, treatment centers, and clinics operate? If so, there are numerous careers that match your interest in healthcare with your need for an environment that doesn’t involve directly working with patients. The number of opportunities in the healthcare industry is rapidly growing, with a projected growth of nearly 20 percent between 2016 and 2026, compared to an average of about seven percent for all occupations. A rewarding career in healthcare administration may be a great fit for you if you’re looking to work in a high-growth field but not on the front lines, as a doctor or nurse.

Healthcare administration careers require a solid foundation in ethics, human resources, healthcare policies, and business operations. A healthcare administration degree allows students to obtain an understanding of and adaptability to constantly changing technologies, policies, and regulations. In earning this degree, you would also gain the following skills:

• Analysis.
• Problem-Solving
• Decision-making.
• Communication.

Want to know if a degree in healthcare administration is right for you? This degree program may be a good fit if:

You enjoy working with people in a healthcare setting, within an office environment. By pursuing a degree in healthcare administration, you can manage and organize patient records, financial policies, and planning of strategies.

Depending on the role, such as a clinic operations manager or hospital administrator, you may direct procedures and plans for patient care and daily operations.

Working with health-related data intrigues and fulfills you. You may be interested in protecting and ensuring the accuracy of confidential information, managing budgets, and maintaining network security.

With the knowledge and proficiency that you’d acquire from courses, a degree in healthcare administration will enable you to work as a patient accounts supervisor, health information security manager, or another position in which you may analyze the impact of technology on the health and treatment outcomes of patients.

You are a natural leader who is comfortable with, and capable of, making major decisions. Roles like a practice administrator or clinical director would require you to identify and respond to challenges on policy, finance, regulatory, and ethical levels; comply with established and evolving industry standards; and manage risk.

A degree and certification in healthcare administration can grant you the freedom to take on many types of administrative roles within the healthcare sector and allow you to make an impact in a way that benefits patients, hands-on staff, and healthcare organizations, as a whole. What will you choose to do with a degree in healthcare administration?