5 High-Paying Jobs in Healthcare Management - Healthcare Management Degree Guide

Why is there a need for healthcare managers? According to the website MedAlertHelp.org, 9.1 percent of Americans had no insurance in 2017. Another 17.2 percent were enrolled in Medicare. Those statistics are important because they impact the financial health of healthcare facilities. Healthcare facilities have to collect or write off unpaid bills from uninsured patients, and Medicare does not reimburse the full billed amount. The website also says that if you look at healthcare as a product, it accounted for only five percent of the gross national product ( GNP) in 1960. By 2018, that amount had jumped to 18.2 percent. Healthcare management jobs are expected to increase by 32 percent by 2029. That is much better than the growth rate for other careers. Healthcare amounts for almost a fifth of the national gross product yet has significant struggles. For instance, most Americans surveyed believe other countries have better healthcare services than does the United States. Managing healthcare services, from staffing and quality to finances, is the responsibility of healthcare managers

The healthcare industry is still growing and you can currently find many high paying jobs in healthcare management today. While these positions are in the healthcare industry, having administrative, accounting, human resources and management skills are important.

What Does Healthcare Management Involve?

One explanation says that a healthcare managers “control, coordinate, deploy and monitor resources such as medical centers, hospices, outpatient clinics, healthcare workers, capital spending, healthcare policies and medical technologies in a drive to deliver better healthcare to the population.” There is a lot of potential for specialization in that description.
For one thing, healthcare has changed drastically though the years.

Advancements in medical equipment have resulted not only in new hospital treatments, but in the appearance of completely new types of facilities that require administrators. Electronic health records enable medical facilities to share information ( and patients). Medical research has found cures for existing diseases and conditions and has discovered many diseases never before recognized. There is now a symbiotic relationship between medical treatment centers and pharmaceutical companies that gives both partners a competitive edge. That relationship moves healthcare management into the arena of marketing facilities to patients. Additionally, new regulations have appeared with the digitalization of records and the increased presence of pharmacy representatives in medical facilities that require managers to have greater expertise in the legal aspects of healthcare. All of this creates a new environment in healthcare management, the managerial team, and that is good news for people who want careers in the field.

People who work in small facilities may still have to deal with all the new aspects of healthcare management that these changes bring by being a manager who “wears many hats,” but professionals in larger institutions, organizations and companies can diversify and fill a special seat on the team.

In the healthcare industry, you have direct lines of employment and advancement to executive level positions with proper training and education. To learn more about how you can enter this growing and diverse field check out the list of high salary healthcare positions below:

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Health Information Manager

Five High-Paying Jobs in Healthcare Management

This is a data-driven role where you will be responsible for the efficiency and accuracy of data and information delivered within various departments. Health information managers can work in hospitals, private medical practices or other health related organizations.

This position arises out of the mandates of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that required all healthcare facilities to implement electronic healthcare records by January 1, 2024. The government offered monetary incentives to facilities that began to use EHR and connected the utilization to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. Additionally, technological advancements that made possible automatic entry of patient data into the hospital system created a need for people to oversee and manage that system.

This career is based in healthcare knowledge with a foundational understanding of treatments and billing codes, but also requires a grasp of coding and software. Managers in health information will supervise people responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the data.

Many hospital CFO’s also have a CPA license. In small facilities they may supervise a few employees and do much of the accounting themselves. In larger facilities, they coordinate larger staffs, but are ultimately responsible for the accuracy and timeliness of financial statements and productivity reports. This may include working with HR in recruitment and compensation for top “talent” in physicians and specialists, recommending the utilization of specialists that are not “in-house,” and other staffing issues that do not involve day-to-day operations to produce the best financial results.

Additionally, they create budgets, source lines of credit, and make certain that the facility pays its bills. They are responsible to understand and stay current on Medicare and Medicaid policies and reimbursement schedules.
They supervise the monitoring of equipment purchase and replacement as well as depreciation and insurance.

In short, whether they do the work themselves ( as at a small facility) or supervise teams of employees working in hospital finance, their job is to oversee and manage all things pertaining to facility profit and loss.

This career sits at the crossroads of healthcare, business and information technology. Strong technology, data and information security skills are essential for this position.

Career seekers interested in this position are encouraged to obtain their Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) certification after completing a Bachelor of Science program.

Health Information manager salaries can reach over $81,000 per year.

Healthcare Consultant

Healthcare consultants are required to communicate with clients to pinpoint operational issues and resolutions, analyze employment figures and revenue, collect financial statements and figure out how healthcare institutions can save money and assist with carrying those changes out. This position can be performed at hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centers, private practices and public health organizations.

The “client” in this case is the facility employing the consultant. That employment could be on a temporary basis addressing one issue or as an in-house manager.

Consultants are important because of the increased complexity of reimbursement and regulations. Those who work for a consulting firm come into a facility or into a doctor’s office to help develop procedures and policies that the doctor’s team will them implement. According to one consultation company, some of the things consultants advise doctors setting up practices in are facility location and size, securing financing, helping to set up credentialing and contracts with other providers, establishing HR procedures and other aspects, and setting legal parameters. They also help established facilities with billing procedures, background checks of new employees and other issues such as HIPPA compliance.

Another variation of this position is the health lawyer. Although this career can also be seen as a specialty in the practice of law, the requisite knowledge of medical issues and terminology brings it into the realm of healthcare management jobs. People who work in health law are involved in ensuring that healthcare facilities like hospitals and clinics meet local, state and federal rules, navigate contracts between facilities and contractors such as third-party billing companies, oversees employment contracts with physicians and other professionals and represents the hospital or facility in legal disputes.

A basic knowledge of billing and diagnostic codes is helpful to this career, as is an understanding of healthcare ethics and procedures. The suggested route toward becoming a healthcare lawyer is to first earn an undergraduate degree in healthcare management or healthcare administration and then to complete your education in law school.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics gives the median salary for lawyers of all types as $122,960.

Degrees in Health Care Administration, Business or Human Resources are typical for obtaining this type of position. Because the job responsibilities are more business than health care related, individuals with excellent communication, organization and leadership skills are highly desired.

Healthcare Consultant salaries range from $47,000 – $136,000 per year.

Difference Between Administrator and Manager

At this point, it may be beneficial to look at the difference between a healthcare manager and a healthcare administrator. Although many people use the two terms interchangeably, they are actually two different positions. In smaller facilities such as single-provider doctor’s practices, the differences may blur, but in other situations there is a marked difference between a healthcare administrator and a healthcare manager. Another way of looking at these jobs is as generalists and specialists in healthcare management.

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Healthcare Manager

In the most restricted sense, a healthcare manager is responsible for the operation of a facility or a group of facilities. Managers focus on the business side of healthcare such as policies, accounting and facilities management issues such as purchasing or refurbishing equipment. This career is also referred to as healthcare management generalist.

Healthcare Administrator

The healthcare administrator works with the daily operations of the facility such as staffing issues and HR. The other name for the position is healthcare manager specialist.

Hospital Administrator

Hospital administrators are needed in various facilities ranging from hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient and rehabilitation clinics. This position is responsible for overseeing health services provided at these types of healthcare facilities.

Additionally, the hospital administrator is involved with interviewing doctors, managing financial budgets, securing funding for the institution, scheduling staff members and coming up with policies for better maintaining quality of care for patients and complying with governmental guidelines.

Career seekers can obtain bachelor’s or master’s degrees in healthcare administration, as well as, earn the Registered Health Information Administrator Certification to increase their chances of securing a hospital administrator position.

A recent listing from Indeed.com is for a variation of hospital administration jobs: the home health director of operations . The position requires applicants to have a clinical license, but it also requires education/ experience in healthcare management. The home health care industry delivers healthcare to its patients. As in other hospital administration jobs, managers in this career must oversee finances, policies and other concerns of the company as well as supervising the clinic managers who deliver healthcare services.

Hospital Administrator salaries can range from $51,000 – $172,000 per year.

Pharmaceutical Product Manager

Healthcare involves products (technologies and drugs) as well as practitioners. In that sense, even a health insurance policy is a product. This manager listing, however, deals with pharmaceuticals. Doctors must have access to proven drug interventions. The healthcare manager who works in pharmaceuticals is responsible for making certain the drugs sold by the company are beneficial and marketed appropriately.

They perform research to understand what people need, and then coordinate efforts to produce a product that meets that need. Additionally, they supervise teams of professionals that produce the “product” though the entire process from conception to marketing.

It is important for a pharmaceutical product manager to understand medical codes. This pertains to his or her research, but also to marketing the drugs, because interactions and warnings are always listed on advertisements and labeling.

The pharmaceutical product manager is responsible for coordinating and supervising various elements related to medical products. Investment analysis, market data reviews and promoting pharmaceutical products are all fundamental aspects to this role.

Because of the emphasis on pharmaceutical knowledge, a background or training in science is important. Additionally, managerial, business, data analysis and leadership skills are also vital to the role as well.

The typical path for securing a pharmaceutical product manager position starts with obtaining a bachelor’s degree in a science, chemical engineering or management field. You should then obtain experience either through a junior level position or an internship where you can ask to take on leadership opportunities. Finally, although not a requirement, you should consider a master’s degree as it will make you a much more desirable candidate.

Pharmaceutical Product Manager salaries can range from $120,000 – $131,000 per year.

Hospital CFO

The hospital CFO’s main responsibility is to make sure the hospital runs in the most cost efficient way possible. Hospital CFO’s are required to be results-oriented, forward thinking, innovative and have a deep understanding of finance, accounting and personnel management.

The educational requirements for this position are bachelor’s degrees, MBA’s (not mandatory) and CPA certifications. While and MBA is not a requirement, because of the competitive nature of this position it is highly desired and will set you apart from other candidates.

Additionally, they create budgets, source lines of credit, and make certain that the facility pays its bills. They are responsible to understand and stay current on Medicare and Medicaid policies and reimbursement schedules. They supervise the monitoring of equipment purchase and replacement as well as depreciation and insurance. All of this information is communicated to the hospital chief executive officer, the board of trustees and stockholders.

Hospital CFO salaries range from $106,000 – $257,000 per year.

So, why are healthcare managers in demand? Someone has to manage the upward-spiraling financial and quality issues of this growing industry. With the right credentials and some dedication, professionals can expect to have successful and satisfying careers in this field. It doesn’t matter whether you want to crunch numbers, research new pharmaceuticals or have a hands-on career in managing a small healthcare facility staff. You might even represent a healthcare facility in a high-profile court case. These, and other healthcare management jobs are available to you.

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Conclusion

As you can see, the healthcare industry is a growing and highly lucrative industry to enter. Keep searching for more information as these were just a few of the high paying jobs in healthcare management.

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