There comes a time in most careers when it’s time for a change. Few people want to stay exactly where they are for a bunch of legitimate reasons. Everyone wants to change the view sooner or later.

A Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration can change a nurse’s direction or the path for a department supervisor. The change can mean more money, more respect, more opportunity, and more personal satisfaction. It’s not that you have been unhappy or unsuited for what you have been doing, but people mature and their needs evolve.
 

Changing industry -

A typical Healthcare Administrator or Manager will supervise the delivery of healthcare systems. As such, they design, coordinate, and direct the delivery through other healthcare professionals. Such Administrators may specialize in a clinical area or manage an entire system or facility. There are as many opportunities as there are medical fields and as the changing demographics demand.

You have surely found yourself juggling more tasks than in the past, but successful delivery cannot be left to jugglers in the future. Diversified demands are multiplying, and information is increasing at an unmanageable speed. Integration is the new skill, the ability to deconstruct work and integrate information, systems and technology. Other pulls will insist on efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Smaller facilities frequently have able administrators who have risen through the system. With seniority and personal commitment, they mature in their ability to manage the tasks of the facility. Their tenure has immersed them in the clinical setting’s operations and financials, and their good-will has made them good people managers.

However, healthcare is changing as an industry. Small walk-in clinics are popping up everywhere. They have relieved physicians of the “retail” administration, but staff, purchasing, billing, and customers need a new kind of leadership.

Other small facilities are opening as out-patient surgery, physical and rehabilitation therapy centers, geriatric care and early Alzheimer centers, and assisted care and hospice environments are rapidly expanding. As standalone facilities, they are able to delegate some systems, such as billing, but they have assumed larger responsibilities in nursing, medical records, HIPAA administration, and insurance relations.
 

Acutely different training -

This increase in generalist duties requires acutely different training and experience. They need an education built upon a base of degreed education and field experience. They need certification that administrators have pursued and completed new studies in how to integrate, collaborate, and lead. For some, this may mean nothing more than learning new software and database applications. For others, it may mean deeper research into healthcare institutional experiences. For all, it would mean completing a structured educational experience that would expose you to new things, ideas, systems, and people. And, hopefully, it would teach you to find the best in these avenues to build a best path for yourself.
 

Some new avenues -

• Clinical Managers are typically department managers who multi-task with policies and procedures, personnel and work quality, administration of reports and budgets, and interface with other department managers.

• Health Information Managers have responsibility for patient records, their, security, and confidentiality. With medical practice increasingly dependent on data and virtual record keeping, Information Managers must juggle hardware, software, and legal systems.

• Group Medical Practice Administrators work with physicians, taking on larger policy making roles than they have as Office Managers. The larger the physicians’ group the bigger the job.

• Medical and Health Services Managers perform similar duties in managed-care settings with larger staffs to manage. They may also be responsible for community outreach and preventive care.

Think of yourself with a new title on your door and business card: Administrator, Director, VP. A Master in Healthcare Administration has more options.

Dee enjoys freelance writing/blogging in her spare time and also does some ghost writing as well.