Health
Administrator
While doctors,
clinics and hospitals may boast of the best medical care, this alone does not
guarantee these facilities will prosper and flourish. As with any organization,
health care enterprises must operate efficiently and profitably to survive.
Professionals in health care administration ensure that the business side of
medicine prospers. Health care administrators, also known as medical and health
services managers or health care executives, coordinate the activities of
medical organizations ranging from doctors’ offices to hospital departments to
health care corporations. They create goals and the strategies for achieving
them, and communicate this information to all employees. Because administrators
tend to such business concerns as budgeting, scheduling, information
management, marketing and internal communication, the medical staff can
concentrate on health care. Administrators also ensure their facilities comply
with all regulations and may represent their areas of responsibility at board
meetings or public hearings. Specific duties in health care administration vary
according to job title. Nursing home administrators, who require state
licensing, ensure that nursing home residents receive proper care. Practice
managers administer the practices of one or more doctors by handling their
accounting, taxes, inventories and patient scheduling. Clinical managers have
expertise in such medical specialties as physical therapy or nursing, and can
thus manage departments devoted to that specialty. Medical information managers
collect, organize, process and secure information about patient conditions,
diagnoses, and treatment. Assistant administrators help higher-level
administrators with daily tasks. Professionals in
health care administration can look forward to above-average job growth of 22
percent from 2010 to 2020, notes the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The
increase comes from an aging baby boomer population seeking medical services.
As of May 2010, administrators averaged $96,030 annually, or $46.17 hourly.
However, they earned as much as a mean $139,400 per year, or $67.02 per hour,
working for insurance and employee benefit funds, and an average of $138.800
yearly, or $66.73 hourly, in scientific research and development services.
