What are the Jobs for Healthcare Administrators

   Healthcare administrators deal with the business side of healthcare delivery. The education for this role focuses on the planning, coordination and delivery of high-quality healthcare. The role of the healthcare provider is to assist patients in the recovery of good health. The healthcare administrator is concerned with how that can be done in a way that is not only healthy for the patient but healthy in a business sense for the facility or department.

   Healthcare administrators can be in charge of a specific unit, or they may be responsible for several departments. This role is often seen in hospitals, clinics, diagnostic and treatment centers, long-term care and assisted living facilities, and doctor’s offices. The responsibilities of the healthcare administrator in each of these settings is very similar.

   In spite of the constant changes that occur within the healthcare area, the administrator is expected to maintain high quality of care and to do so it in a way that is as efficient as possible. There many variables the healthcare administrator must adapt to including:

   the different ways healthcare is delivered  the various technologies being used to deliver the care the state and federal regulations that must be complied with the ever changing work environment the role of public health

   There are a number of areas within the healthcare facility that employee healthcare administrators. Some of these areas include:

   general surgery

   internal medicine

   general nursing

   human resources

   medical records

   information technology

   finance and accounting

   materials and facilities

   patient admissions

   The size of the healthcare facility usually determines the amount of responsibility that a administrator is given. The difference between administrators in a large teaching hospital versus a small assisted living facility is usually the scale but not types of responsibilities. They both have to deal with budgets, purchasing, and staffing.

   A special type of healthcare administrator, called a clinical manager, is someone who has been trained in a certain area of healthcare delivery, such as nursing or physical therapy, then moved into administration. Because of their expertise in a specific healthcare field, they tend to perform the administrative function within that specialty. They will have all of the responsibilities of any healthcare administrator, but will have a different perspective about the unit for which they are responsible.

     In group practices where there are multiple physicians and healthcare professionals, the administrator will work closely with the staff as they perform their role. In a large hospital setting, administrators may have several assistants to work with the various staff. There also may be multiple administrators reporting to a director. Each of these administrators is responsible for separate areas such as personnel management, billing and collections management, budget management and financial planning.