Masters in Health Care Administration Jobs & Careers
Master of Health Care Administration Jobs
In many cases MHA programs offer students an opportunity to specialize in a particular field of healthcare management, or at least to shape their curriculum somewhat with electives. Master of Healthcare Administration graduates are also often working healthcare professionals who have established a career track and wish to extend it with graduate level education. More than any other health oriented degree, the MHA allows graduates to find work in the clinical side of medicine as well as the ancillary industries such as insurance and medical technology. There is also an entire world of public health for which the MHA is a good preparation, for policy jobs as well as administrative roles in public health agencies. There is also a great deal of research conducted in healthcare by public agencies, especially at the federal level, and by the larger providers. An MHA graduate with the proper training in statistics and research methodology can find career opportunities there as well.
- Rehab Services Director: There has been a growth of rehabilitation facilities designed for specialized services that has occurred in sync with the aging of the population and the spread of extended care facilities providing for the growing numbers of elderly. Rehabilitation centers provide physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, wound care, cardiac rehab and offsite outpatient rehab. A director or manager must be able to handle a multidisciplinary environment populated by a range of treatment specialists.
- Quality Assurance Manager: Hospitals, clinics and just about any kind of medical care facility today is subject to periodic inspection by a state licensing agency. These inspections are daunting affairs for a medical services organization; those that are large enough or have the funding to support it keep a quality assurance professional in house that can ensure ongoing quality control efforts and maintain a relationship with regulatory authorities.
- Clinical Practice Director: Medical practices have in many cases merged with clinical service facilities to create a single business entity that requires a trained administrator for management. A medical clinic may be an adjunct of a larger medical services system but most function as single business units regardless of the corporate structure, often incorporating lab and other diagnostic services as well as medical treatment.
- Hospital Administrator: This is one of the oldest health care administration professions, one which has changed dramatically as the industry has turned to managed care. Hospital administrators today often oversee personnel units that include MDs as well as RNs. Many hospitals have a public health service component and many more are teaching hospitals for nursing schools or medical schools. Oversight responsibilities include an annual budget that may include government subsidies which can vary on an annual basis.
- Health Policy Analyst: Job opportunities in this field may be found in government agencies, usually at the state or federal level, or in legislative bodies. State legislatures and Congress have committees that develop and hold hearings on healthcare legislation, which is prepared by professionals in the field. Many legislators have staff members that are healthcare experts, particularly if they are assigned to relevant committees or have chosen to undertake healthcare reform efforts as a personal political goal.
- Public Health Administrator: In most states county governments are responsible for public health, although many large cities maintain a public health component as well. In either case at the local level public health programs are both educational in nature and serve as a safety net for residents who are uninsured. A public health administrator may oversee one or more facilities, generally including a large hospital, and may play an advocacy role in annual budget allocation processes as well.
- Managed Care Director: One of the trends in senior medical treatment has been the rise of corporations operating groups of extended care facilities for the elderly. Many of them contract medical services, rehabilitation services, home health services and nursing services with outside agencies. A managed care director for an organization that operates one or more facility designed on this business model maintains contractual and working relationships with the appropriate providers and handles policy issues centered on the provision of care.
- Risk Manager: The risk manager in a healthcare environment is generally working for an insurance firm or HMO provider and is often working in a data-centric environment. These positions require knowledge of information technology and the use of date within a health management system. The administrative duties come into play when developing loss prevention, claims support and strategic financial plans.
- Case Management Director: While many mid-level administrative positions in case management fall to advanced practice RNs, the overall directorship for this function in a major medical facility may fall to a trained healthcare administrator with advanced budget management skills. Case oversight requires designing and implementing policy directives on clinical standards as well as maintaining administrative responsibility for regulatory compliance.
- Performance Consultant: The major business consulting firms today maintain teams of experts who work in the healthcare sector. The general role of a business consulting team is to heighten efficiency, ensure regulatory compliance, realign budgeting procedures where necessary, and provide an audit of operational structure. All of the Big Five consulting firms employ MHA graduates to work in this field.
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