March 28, 2024

Why Should I Major in Healthcare Management?

If you are looking for an awesome, lucrative and highly rewarding career opportunity, you should think about a career in healthcare management. With the recent changes to the United States healthcare system due to Obamacare and millions of baby boomers going into retirement, there is a huge demand for highly qualified and knowledgeable healthcare managers and administrators. So how exactly can you get a job in the healthcare management field? Here is a quick overview of what type of education you need in order to pursue this field.

College Education
If you are serious about jump starting a career, the first thing you should do is look for a reputable and accredited college that offers a healthcare management degree. At the bachelor’s level, students must take undergraduate prerequisites such as college algebra, english composition, history, social sciences and possibly a foreign language. As you matriculate through the degree, you will take a wide variety of healthcare-related courses such as healthcare economics, healthcare delivery models, finance, marketing, law and healthcare information systems. Some colleges and universities offer concentrations that allow students to pursue certain specialties such as healthcare information technology or facilities management. Just do your due diligence and find the right program suitable for your needs. At the master’s level, students will take more advanced courses that still center around human resources, finance, law and marketing. Some colleges and universities offer healthcare management degrees completely online that can also be completed in conjunction with an information technology or MBA degree.

Internship

No serious healthcare management program will allow a student to graduate without completing a serious internship. A healthcare management degree, both at the bachelor’s and the master’s level, will require that students work at a healthcare facilities for a certain amount of hours before graduating. This ensures that students graduate having on-site experience at a serious healthcare setting such as a hospital, nursing home, long-term care facilities or a private doctor’s office.

Healthcare Management Careers and Salaries

Once you obtain either a bachelor’s or master’s degree in healthcare management, there are a wide variety of careers you can pursue. Some roles include:

  • Nursing Home Administrator
  • Healthcare Billing Administrator
  • Purchasing Agent/Director
  • Office Administrator
  • Facilities Manager

According to the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is a huge demand for healthcare service managers. In fact, between 2010 and 2020, the profession is expected to grow by 22 percent. The Department of Labor expects close to 68,000 jobs to also be created within this time frame. The average salary in 2020 for a healthcare manager was around $84,000, making close to $41 an hour. Salaries will depend on geographic location, size of the employer, type of employer as well as education. Healthcare management jobs located in bigger metropolitan areas such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago will generally pay more due to higher costs of living.

A career in the healthcare management field is a good choice for those who want to work in a business or managerial capacity within a healthcare setting. Career options are vast and there is a huge demand for educated healthcare service managers. With the right education, you can chart out a great career in this field.