Where Can I Work With a Degree in Healthcare Administration?
People obtaining a Master’s degree in Health Administration (MHA) will find that older hard effort may put them at both an advantage as well as a disadvantage. Getting this degree can be quite a blessing because it will allow you to discover a variety of different management-oriented careers within the health care industry. However, there is such a variety of career choice for professionals obtaining an MHA that might just be a little overwhelming. Successfully completing this course is that it will qualify you to manage a number of different areas within the healthcare industry including financials, legal issues, facilities and equipment management, human resources, applied technology, policymaking and public relations plus much more.
Career Confusion Can Create Chaos
Making a choice about what course of study to focus upon pursue an MHA degree is one of the fundamental decisions that must be made prior to searching for schools to attend. Often, they professionals present position may dictate their subject matter chores when seeking to pursue an advanced degree. For example, when overseeing a department in a nursing home and professional may look to find a school in a program that focuses on nursing home management. Another individual involved in computer technology applications in a healthcare facility is going to look for school and program that can help advance their career in this area. The most common question posed on healthcare career message boards is what can be done with an MHA degree?
And the Answer is…
The short answer to the question is lots. There are plenty of opportunities in different employment sectors according to the Association of University Programs in Health Administration sectors that include providers, suppliers, insurance organizations, and health policy organizations.
Provider Employment
The most commonly obvious career paths for healthcare administration program graduates with master’s degrees are in this sector. Hospitals lead the way employing more than 30 percent of all healthcare administrators reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although hospitals lead the way for employment in the sector, graduates will also find opportunities in the following areas:
• Medical clinics
• Large group practices
• Eldercare facilities including nursing homes
• Outpatient facilities
• Mental health facilities and organizations
• Rehab facilities
There are quite a few job titles better use in this sector including director of business development, executive director, administrator, vice president, practice manager, and many titles with the first name director, such as nursing, risk management, patient safety, patient information services and more.
Supplier Employment
Every business needs supplies and quite a few supplies are using the healthcare industry. There are many vendors providing both services and supplies to healthcare facilities in such areas as staffing, financing/accounting, operations, computer services, as well as personnel training and development. Qualified graduates with an MHA degree they find work in this employment sector including:
• Consulting firms
• Healthcare product development firms
• Healthcare marketing
• Management
• Pharmaceutical
• Biotech
• Educational organizations.
Insurance Companies
Healthcare industry expansion in the past 20 years led to a rise in associated costs that now demands a great deal of management from people with a healthcare background. Therefore, quite a few insurance companies and health maintenance organizations continue to grow and with this expansion are offering different career paths available for professionals who have earned a master’s degree in healthcare ministration. Job seekers here will find such titles as client manager, director of strategic planning, analysts, quality control manager, client manager and more.
Policy Organizations
Many graduates from a Masters level program and healthcare ministration choose careers were an assortment of health related issues are examined, researched, discussed and propose solutions are presented for implementation. Many of these opportunities are with non-profit organizations or government teas strictly devoted toward examining health related issues such as the Centers for Disease Control. Chris seekers in the sector will find job titles like communications director, policy analyst, community health organizers, legislative assistant and health planner.
Experience Only Should Apply
Obtaining a Masters in health care industry can does not follow the same traditional path you might find in other academic areas where a person can simply proceed from the baccalaureate level to the postgraduate level. Most schools, if not all programs, require a substantial amount of healthcare before gaining entry to an advanced degree course of study. Therefore, spending a few years in the trenches gaining valuable healthcare industry experience will almost always be an injury requirement when looking to advance your education. And, you may need to choose wisely, specifically if you would like to pursue a nonclinical management role. Successful career seekers will start in this area working in some kind of assistant capacity in the nonclinical but healthcare industry related field such as information technology, patient information services, quality control, admissions and others.