Long-term careers with a healthcare administration degree are available to those who are looking for a rewarding leadership role in the healthcare field. Those with a degree in healthcare administration can find positions with healthcare institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, private physician practices, and more.

Job Titles

Possible job titles for those with a healthcare administration degree include healthcare manager, health administrator, project coordinator, or program manager. Those working in the healthcare field with an administration degree could either specialize in management in a particular area of healthcare, such as oncology or pediatrics, or they could be generalists providing management services over a variety of different departments of a healthcare institutions. They can work for either the public sector or the private sector, and they can fulfill positions at pharmaceutical or health insurance companies in addition to hospitals and medical centers.

Job Responsibilities

The responsibilities of a healthcare administrator or manager include directing programs, looking over relations with other organizations and institutions, managing staff, budgets, and services, and more. The job tasks of a healthcare administrator or manager often depend on how large the institution for which an individual works and how specialized an individual's job role is within the healthcare field.

Important Skills

Those who pursue such a career should naturally be leaders and should be comfortable with giving direction and multitasking to manage a variety of different projects and programs at a healthcare institution. They should also be skilled and resourceful when it comes to problem solving. Healthcare administrators need to have a natural ability to work with colleagues to pursue common goals. Social skills, leadership abilities, and a passionate concern for the welfare of patient's are important characteristics of a successful professional pursuing these careers.

Careers can range from mid-level management positions to positions as high as CEO or president of a company or hospital. Those who start at a mid-level management position will general enjoy quite a lot of potential in terms of job advancement in the future. According to Forbes, those who work in a healthcare administration role have the potential to leave a lasting mark on health care policies at the institution for which they work. They can have an especially learn impact over health care policies if they find work with government agencies at the local, state, or federal level or national organizations like the American Hospital Association or the Red Cross.

Related Resource: Nursing Home Administrator

Work Conditions

Although those working in healthcare administration may have an impact over the conditions and care provided to patients, they may not work directly with patients on a daily basis as do other healthcare professionals such as doctors and nurses. Yet their careers can make tangible improvements to healthcare policy that benefit patients on a large scale. Healthcare administration careers may involve long hours and travel. They also might necessitate working around the clock since healthcare institutions typically need to be staffed 24 hours per day. However, careers with a healthcare administration degree also tend to be highly rewarding and allow one single individual to have a large impact over the healthcare field.