Getting Hired for a Healthcare Administration Job

Recently, we explained what healthcare administration is and what healthcare administrators do, and here we’ll introduce you to what entry-level jobs you can get with a bachelor’s degree in the field.

Completing your Bachelor’s Degree in Healthcare Administration and Management will prepare you for a variety of excellent jobs in the industry—one of the largest and fastest growing fields of the modern U.S. economy.

Whether you’re new to this line of work, or you already have some experience, but are simply lacking the degree needed to take the next step in your career, earning your Bachelor’s Degree in Healthcare Administration is one of the best ways to set yourself up for long-term success.

Earning a B.S. in Healthcare Administration will provide you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to find success and stable employment in the industry.

This post will introduce you to some of the best jobs available to healthcare administration majors, explaining what those jobs require you to do, as well as how much they might pay.

We’ll also explain why you would want to work in healthcare administration, why getting your bachelor’s degree is a good idea, and which bachelor’s program you should choose if you do decide to pursue a career in the field.

When you’ve finished reading this post, fill out our information request form to receive additional details about CSU Global’s 100% online Bachelor’s Degree program in Healthcare Administration, or if you’re ready to get started, submit your application today.

What is Healthcare Administration?

Before we list the specific jobs available to healthcare administration majors, let’s first briefly explain what healthcare administration is, and what healthcare administrators do.

First, healthcare administration is the process of managing and overseeing healthcare systems and the delivery of healthcare services.

To understand what healthcare administrators actually do, it’s critical to understand that business skills are as important as healthcare skills for this field, as business best practices are at the core of everything a healthcare administrator does.

This is one of the reasons it’s so important that to earn a Bachelor’s in Healthcare Administration in the first place, as these programs are specifically designed to provide you with the business and healthcare knowledge and skills required to succeed in a healthcare administration role.

In order to be effective in this field, you’ll need to develop your knowledge of the following business skills:

  • Operations management, supervision, and decision-making.
  • Project management.
  • Policy management.
  • Human resources.
  • Strategic planning, operations, and finance.

you’ll also need to become an expert on the U.S. healthcare system, as well as healthcare service delivery, with specific study on the following areas:

  • Quality assurance.
  • Risk management.
  • Healthcare finance.
  • Ethics.
  • Other practices essential to managing in a demanding healthcare environment.

What Jobs Can You Do With a Healthcare Administration Bachelor’s Degree?

After completing your Bachelor’s program in Healthcare Administration, you’ll be ready to enter the field in a number of different ways, with a wide variety of entry-level positions now available for you to choose from.  

Whether you decide to pursue employment in a traditional hospital or clinical setting, at a private or public corporation, at a nonprofit organization, or in a state or federal government agency, you’ll be ready to provide value to your employer from day one. 

But what jobs will you be applying to? Here’s a short list of some of the most popular jobs for healthcare administration majors:

Medical and Health Services Managers

One of the more popular categories of roles for healthcare administration and management graduates is medical and health services managers, who are tasked with critical functions at the organizations they serve.

These positions involve planning, directing, and coordinating business activities of healthcare providers, which as we mentioned earlier, is one of the many reasons why you’ll need to study business-related skills during the course of your undergraduate program in healthcare administration.

U.S. News explains that medical and health services managers need to be detail-oriented and possess solid analytical and great problem-solving skills They should also have strong interpersonal and communications skills since they spend a great deal of time working with doctors, health insurance representatives, and other medical administrators.

Practice Administrator

Payscale explains that practice administrators play an incredibly critical function at medical facilities, as they are typically tasked with ensuring that the facility has the staff needed to deliver the health services that it provides.

Accordingly, as a professional practice administrator, you may find yourself handling recruiting duties to find the physicians, nurses, medical assistants, and other non-medical staff..

You may not be asked to handle direct interviews and hiring procedures, as those tasks are typically completed by more senior-level members of the team, but you will likely be responsible for preparing budgets for staffing and training.

You may also find yourself responsible for handling contracts with medical supply and pharmaceutical companies, or perhaps managing advertising budgets.

To thrive in this role, you will need good time management and organizational skills, as a practice administrator wears many hats.

Medical Staff Credentialing Analyst

The medical staff credentialing analyst is another critical role to ensure that hospitals and other health organizations are able to  deliver exceptional services, since this individual is responsible for ensuring that all members of their team maintain the required credentials and licenses legally necessary to provide services.

According to Healthcare Support, working as a credentialing specialist will require holding a detailed and up-to-date understanding of the regulations and standards required to achieve and maintain licensure or other required credentials.

You’ll certainly also need to gain a detailed knowledge of applicable medical policies, since you may have to understand credentialing and licensing requirements for certain procedures, as well as positions.

This is a role where attention to detail will be absolutely critical, and where you’ll need to be able to work independently, conduct research, understand changing laws and licensing or credentialing requirements for a variety of healthcare positions.

Managed Care Specialist

As a managed care specialist, you’ll play an important role in ensuring that healthcare services are being properly delivered to patients based on their needs, insurance coverage, and authorizations.

Per Payscale, you may work directly with patients to help verify their insurance coverages, refer them to specialists, keep track of their referral status, and obtain authorizations for medical procedures from managed care organizations on their behalf.

You may also be working directly with physicians to clarify specialty referrals, and you could even serve as a liaison with insurance companies, operations staff, billing staff or other medical professionals, working as an intermediary between patients and these healthcare employees..

This is another role that will require extreme attention to detail, as you’ll need to be well-versed in your employer’s guidelines, policies, and procedures, and able to keep track of the regular policy changes, which could mean having to attend training classes and workshops.

Finally, to be an effective managed care specialist, you’ll also want to understand the different types of healthcare plans, including HMOs, PPOs, EPOs, and you’ll have to be familiar with insurance codes related to patient billing, so you’re certainly going to want to develop a detailed understanding of healthcare services and delivery before attempting to seek employment in this challenging field.

Hospital HR Generalist

HR generalists serve in a variety of capacities to support other human resource professionals.

According to AIHR Digital, HR generalists often cover most of the common HR functions, including hiring, compensation and benefits, administration, and other responsibilities.

Hospital HR generalists complete these duties for hospitals, handling tasks like insurance, recruiting, administering benefits, leaves of absences, employee relations, and a whole series of other HR-related duties.

While common HR duties don’t necessarily require knowledge of healthcare services and their delivery, working as an HR generalist for any kind of healthcare organization is likely to require a great deal of knowledge about the healthcare industry.

This is why getting your bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration is a good idea. If you plan to pursue a role as an hospital HR generalist, you’ll need a foundational knowledge of the U.S. healthcare system and healthcare services delivery.

What Tasks are Healthcare Administration Professionals Responsible For?

While we’ve outlined the responsibilities for several of the more common roles in healthcare administration, you may be asked to do different tasks depending on the role at a particular employer.

To make sure you're prepared for the responsibilities of a healthcare administrator, we recommend that you complete a bachelor’s degree in the field.

Getting your B.S. will ensure that you’ve developed expertise in each of the functions critical to healthcare administrations, including:

  • Knowing healthcare management industry best practices.
  • Critiquing areas of healthcare finance, policy, operations management, ethical, and strategic dilemmas commonly faced by healthcare professionals.
  • Understanding the roles, functions, and impacts of an effective healthcare manager.
  • Synthesizing the value of healthcare operational leadership.
  • Summarizing practical operations and management knowledge and frameworks to the healthcare environment.
  • Analyzing the impact of population health, information systems and technology trends on patient outcomes.

By completing your degree, you’ll be much better prepared to provide effective leadership on these topics, and you’ll be able to demonstrate that expertise during interviews for positions in the field.

Why Should You Consider a Career in Healthcare Administration?

This is an excellent industry for anyone looking to establish a long-term career, as demand for healthcare administration professionals is projected to remain quite strong in the years ahead.

In fact, the BLS estimates that there will be a 28% increase in employment for medical and health services managers between 2021 and 2031.

This far exceeds the average growth of all occupations (just 4%) which signals that it’s a great time to get educated and trained on industry best practices. There will likely  be positions available for those who enter the industry while it’s expanding so rapidly.

Is a Bachelor’s in Healthcare Administration Really Worth Getting?

Yes, it’s worth completing a Bachelor’s Degree program in Healthcare Administration, because it’s one of the best ways to prepare yourself for work in the field.

No matter what you choose to do in the industry, earning academic credentials from an accredited, respected bachelor’s degree program are virtually certain to improve your marketability for related jobs.

Just make sure that you pick a reputable, regionally accredited program in healthcare administration—otherwise the time, effort, and money you invest in your education may not improve your career opportunities.

Can You Get an Accredited B.S. in Healthcare Administration Online?

Yes, you can get a regionally accredited Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Healthcare Administration online from CSU Global, a school that is not just accredited, but also widely respected by professionals working in the healthcare industry. 

Our accelerated online Bachelor’s program in Healthcare Administration and Management offers more flexibility and freedom than a traditional in-person program, as it was specifically designed to help students juggle their existing work, and family responsibilities with pursuing their educational credentials.

Choosing to get your B.S. in Healthcare Administration and Management online from CSU Global offers several advantages over traditional programs, including not needing to appear at any set times or locations for classes, monthly class starts, and accelerated, eight-week courses.

Why Should You Consider Studying Healthcare Administration At CSU Global?

CSU Global’s online Bachelor’s Degree in Healthcare Administration and Management is an excellent way to prepare yourself to enter the industry with the knowledge, skills, and credentials you need to achieve long-term career success.

Our program is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, and widely respected by those working in the field. Alumni from our program report excellent real-world results, with graduates reporting a pay increase of 39% one year after graduation, and a median salary that is 4% higher than the national average for all bachelor’s degree holders. 

Furthermore, our program ranks exceptionally well, having earned several top 5 rankings, including:

  • A #2 ranking for Best Online Bachelor’s in Healthcare Management from Online Schools Center.
  • A #3 ranking for Best Bachelor’s in Healthcare Administration Online from Best Value Schools.
  • A #5 ranking for Most Affordable Online Bachelor Degrees in Healthcare Management from Best Medical Degrees.

And if you want to continue pursuing your education after completing the bachelor’s program, we also offer an online Master’s Program in Healthcare Administration that builds on the knowledge and skills you’ll develop in your B.S. program, and which is designed to prepare you for leadership roles in the industry.

Finally, CSU Global offers competitive tuition rates and a Tuition Guarantee to ensure your rate won’t increase as you're getting a degree in the desired field, thus saving your money and time. 

To get additional details about our fully-accredited, 100% online healthcare administration programs, please give us a call at 800-462-7845, or fill out our Information Request Form.

Ready to get started today? Apply now!