The Healthcare Administration Degree - What You'll Study

A Health Services Administration degree is one of the most sought after professional diplomas by hospitals, medical clinics, Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), and insurance companies. The U.S. Department of Labor projects that between 2014 and 2024, medical and health services positions will increase by 17%. That’s remarkable news in an era where employment opportunities are shaky at best. If you’re considering a career in health care administration, or you’re currently employed but desire further educational and career training, you may be wondering what types of classes that health care administration programs provide and how they will help you become a healthcare administrator.

What is Healthcare Management?

Healthcare management is the organization of a healthcare facility or institution. Simply put, a healthcare administrator plans and runs medical or health services. The facility can be a large institution or a single office. Healthcare managers have to wear a lot of hats. Management of personnel and procedures is just part of the job. The healthcare administrator is required to know about medical terminology, legal issues in healthcare as well as being able to deal with office personalities and politics to make sure their health facilities are running smoothly and providing quality healthcare for their clients. It’s an exciting field with lots of opportunities for advancement

What will I Study to get my Healthcare Administration Degree?

Health Care Administration involves a wide variety of skill sets and knowledge bases. Not only do candidates need to have a passion for the field of healthcare, they must also have an inclination towards critical thinking, organization, strong leadership acumen, and the ability to think quickly and effectively in high pressure situations. These skill sets are taught and cultivated by the dedicated faculty at Bryant & Stratton College.

Specific study areas include:

Health/Medical Related Subjects. Because your degree will allow you to work in a diverse range of healthcare-related industries, it’s imperative that you have a basic knowledge of human science and medicine. Your courses will include:

• Introduction to Healthcare
• Medical Terminology
• Human Anatomy and Physiology

These classes will allow you to speak fluently with medical professionals across all aspects of healthcare, and will provide a deeper understanding of your observations as you move through various medical settings.

Management Classes. As a manager, you must be able to think critically, juggle scheduling constraints, understand legal policies and procedures and lead your diverse team(s) of employees. Classes to help you hone those skills provide:

• Health Services Management instruction
• Legal Aspects of healthcare administration
• Performance management
• Individualized internships and practicums, which will further hone these skill sets

Numbers. Creating and balancing budgets and managing financial constraints are areas in which managers are always held accountable. Hence, we stress the importance of:

• Health care finance and accounting courses
• Billing/reimbursement strategies
• Office procedures/electronic records systems

Technology: Technology will continue to evolve at a rapid pace which is why our healthcare administration degree emphasizes the importance of coding and classification software, as well as the latest developments in Electronic Health Systems (EHS).

Critical thinking. In addition to classes specifically geared towards excellence in health care administration, our program encourages students to think outside the box in terms of problem solving. Students will understand how to create and implement a disaster plan and understand the complexities of long-term healthcare.

The best healthcare administration degree doesn’t just teach students; it actively engages students to work in their field, encouraging them to bring their questions and experiences back to the classroom where they can learn and grow as well rounded health care administrators. So why study health care administration? Because it’s a rewarding career that lets you help others while helping yourself. Learn more about becoming a health services administrator by clicking here.