Medical and Health Service Manager

Healthcare is an industry that has seen a lot of growth over the last decade, creating many career opportunities, including a high demand for career-minded people who can step into administrative roles in healthcare settings. Medical and Health Services Manager is one of those roles, and earning a Health Services Administration Bachelor's Degree with Bryant & Stratton College can help you gain the skills, knowledge and credentials you need to excel in that role.

What is a Medical and Health Services Manager?

Medical and health services managers are executive-level employees who are responsible for overseeing medical and health services. Alternate job titles for this position include healthcare executives or healthcare administrators. These executives may manage healthcare facilities, departments or clinical areas within facilities or health systems, individual medical practices or medical groups/networks.

Where Do They Work?

The most common employment settings for Medical and Health Services Managers are hospitals, which currently employ 36 percent of these professionals, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Handbook. About 11 percent work in physicians' offices, and 10 percent are employed by nursing and residential care facilities. Approximately 8 percent of Medical and Health Services Managers work for government, and 7 percent are employed in outpatient care centers.

What Are The Job Responsibilities Of Medical And Health Services Managers?

Job responsibilities vary to some degree from one employment setting to another. That being said, day-to-day responsibilities in these positions may include:

• Improving the quality and efficiency of healthcare service delivery
• Ensuring that facilities/practices comply with current and emerging laws and regulations
• Developing goals, objectives and policies for their facilities, practices or departments
• Recruiting, training, scheduling and supervising staff
• Managing financial matters in the workplace, such as patient fees and billing, and/or facility/department/practice/budgets and spending, for example.
• Attending investor meetings and board meetings
• Management of business
• Management of patient data and records
• Communicate with administrative and medical staff and facilitate communication between these departments.

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What is the career outlook for this position?

Becoming a Medical and Health Services Manager yields excellent career prospects, according BLS. The agency projects job growth for this position of 20 percent, or about 69,000 jobs, over the next decade, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. BLS bases that projected employment growth rate on factors that include:

• The aging of the large baby-boom generation, which is expected to increase demand for healthcare services. That demand, in turn, is expected to increase the need for managers to organize and manage medical information and healthcare staff, as well as demand for nursing care facility administrators.
• A shift of many services from facilities to private practices. The additional workload and the increased complexity of day-to-day operations caused by this shift is expected to increase demand for employees, including Medical and Health Services Managers.
• Increasing use of electronic health records (EHRs) is creating a rising demand for Medical and Health Services Managers with knowledge of health information technology (IT) and informatics systems.

BLS also notes that job opportunities will also become available over the next decade as current Medical and Health Services Managers retire and must be replaced. All-in-all, the agency predicts a favorable environment for career building in this field of employment. However, it is important to note that while job market data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Handbook can provide insight on occupational opportunities, it should not to be construed as a guarantee of salary or job title. Neither BLS nor Bryant & Stratton College can guarantee employment in this or any other field of work.

What can I do with my Health Services Administration Bachelor's degree?

A Bryant & Stratton College Health Services Administration Bachelor's degree provides students with a comprehensive foundation of health-related concepts and knowledge, as well as a solid education in general management and management theory, practices and skillsets specific to the healthcare industry. It places an emphasis on the financial and legal aspects of healthcare, information systems in the healthcare setting, and management as it relates to health services administration.

Earning this degree gives you the tools you need to enter the healthcare field as a Medical and Health Services Manager. You could become the manager of a specific department in a hospital, such as nursing, physical therapy, surgery or admissions departments. You could become a health information manager for a hospital or health system, work in nursing home administration, or take a position as a clinical manager or practice manager for a physician's office or clinic.

Additional Requirements to become a Medical and Health Services Manager

Graduates of the Health Services Administration bachelor degree program who wish to pursue positions as Medical and Health Services Managers should know that healthcare facilities and clinical sites generally require employees to undergo background checks and drug testing as part of the hiring process. Some states and employers require potential Medical and Health Services Managers to have some work experience in healthcare – either in a clinical or administrative capacity – to qualify for these positions. Some states require administrators in nursing facilities and assisted living centers to complete a state-approved training program, and/or be licensed by the state or pass a national licensing exam. Lastly, while getting into the field requires a bachelor degree, advancing to top-level executive positions as a Medical and Health Services manager in many organizations may require continuing your education in a master's degree program.

The college’s programs are education programs and the college makes no representations regarding whether a particular program will qualify a graduate for employment in any specific position, is necessary for attaining any such position, or whether potential employers may require additional training, certification or education.  Before enrolling in a program, applicants are encouraged to consult with any relevant agency or employer with which he/she may wish to seek employment for a complete list of position requirements and pre-requisites.

For more information on the Health Services Administration field, please visit the Healthcare Degrees section on our blog. There you will find further insights on earning the Health Services Administration Bachelor's degree and building a career in this field. Exploring our blog and website will also yield more specific information on just what Bryant & Stratton College has to offer to aid you in planning your career path and building your career.