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Doctors and nurses are often the face of healthcare, but behind the scenes is an entire workforce of healthcare managers working to make sure that offices, facilities and hospitals run smoothly. 

Healthcare management necessitates a strong understanding of industry processes and requirements related to compliance, finance, administration and technology. Healthcare managers also need to be able to communicate detailed information, work with others and make sure projects run smoothly, on time and within budget.

Some healthcare professionals focus on developing strategic plans, ensuring regulatory compliance, overseeing financial management or allocating resources, while others manage patient-facing personnel, handle hiring or find opportunities to improve patient outcomes.

Healthcare leadership positions require a wide range of skills, from industry-specific expertise to business knowledge. In addition to talents unique to each specialty, all careers with a healthcare management degree require some general abilities, including:

• Systems thinking. This refers to the ability to view problems holistically to find innovative solutions to healthcare management challenges.
• Compliance. Healthcare managers must understand the range of legal and regulatory issues and implications regarding patient care, safety and privacy; data security; and prescription medications.
• Finance. Topics can include patient billing, medical coding, compliance, budgets and insurance issues, as well as strategic financial planning and investments for healthcare companies or physician offices.
• Management. Healthcare managers and leaders must understand how to enforce relevant policies, handle accounting and budgeting for their units or departments, monitor employee and departmental performance for efficiency and effectiveness, and more.
• Technology. Understanding the range of healthcare-related technologies, like EHR, clinical databases, telehealth applications and patient communication portals, and how to use them is essential.

In addition to those hard skills, healthcare managers need to develop soft skills for their roles. Some of the top skills required for careers in healthcare management include:

• Communication. Managers must be able to share and understand often highly complex information with doctors, nurses, patients, insurance representatives, pharmacists and vendors. Professional speaking and writing skills are particularly important in healthcare, where misunderstandings can have serious consequences.
• Organization and project management. Healthcare managers must be able to work on and monitor multiple priorities and tasks, from daily responsibilities to long-term projects.
• Teamwork and collaboration. Managing healthcare offices and facilities requires working with clinicians, other staff members and third parties (such as insurers or pharmaceutical representatives) to plan projects and solve problems.

Healthcare management is a highly complex and dynamic industry. Studying healthcare management offers an understanding of its specific processes and requirements to be able to address its challenges. Whether managing a doctor’s office or responsible for an entire hospital department, a background in healthcare functions, operations and regulations will help prepare graduates with skills needed for this career. Knowing what jobs can be pursued with a bachelor’s degree or a master’s in this field is critical to deciding whether pursuing this degree is a good fit.

Many careers in healthcare management  at a minimum. Degrees focused on the administrative and management aspects of the healthcare industry are designed to provide an understanding of the unique processes and requirements of this environment within a business context. Coursework includes a focus on financial operations, legal and regulatory considerations, and technologies specific to healthcare, such as electronic health record (EHR) systems.

Graduates might wonder what they can do with a bachelor’s degree in this field. It’s useful for those entering the field, as it may prepare them with skills for this role. A master’s degree can expand existing expertise or serve as a credential for a career change or a path forward to a new position, while a doctoral degree represents the highest level of achievement and skill.

If you’re curious to learn more about healthcare management, ���۴�ý offers online healthcare degree programs, including a health administration degree, a Master of Healthcare Administration online, and an MBA healthcare management online.

Contact ���۴�ý for more information.