10 Careers in Healthcare Management

Female hospital administrator working at a modern medical center. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

There are a number of high paying career options in health care management that are non-clinical and do not involve dealing with patients.

1.  One is that of information technologist. You will find information technologists in doctor’s offices and hospitals doing health records electronically. They are trained to manage the information system of healthcare facilities.

2.  A related career option is that of health care administrators. The number of healthcare facilities is increasing, and the demand for quality healthcare services is ever on the rise. This means present and future job prospects are good for health care administrators. This includes those who manage clinics and other healthcare facilities including the personnel, finance, operations, compliance, risk and other departments of healthcare facilities and organizations.

3.  A third way you can go is with sales where you would work as a medical sales manager. Your work would include supervising medical sales representatives who sell pharmaceutical products.

4.  A health care actuary manager is another healthcare management career option. A health care actuary works either for health insurance companies or medical groups that are self-insured. They are tasked with evaluating and minimizing financial risk in an organization. They do by coming with appropriate pricing for insurance plans and they also carry out analysis of external risk factors. As health care actuary manager, you would be in charge of such a team.

5.  You might also consider walking the career path of clinical research administrator. Clinical research focuses on new developments in the treatment and management of diseases and conditions. These are the people the medical practitioners rely on to ensure compliance to research regulations.

6.  Career option number six in healthcare management is that of clinical department manager. Responsibilities include working with clinicians and administrative staff to work towards the realization of the goals of departmental goals by developing and implementing the necessary plans, policies and procedures.

7.  A seventh option is the career of community resource advisor or options counselor. Work in this field involves giving patients correct and updated information during and after their stay as an in-patient in a healthcare facility.  This is typically done for elderly patients aged 60 years and above, disabled patients aged 22 years and above and the families of the patients. As a community health resource or options counselor manager, you would be in charge of the team that offers this service in a hospital or other healthcare facility.

8.  You may also consider a career in trauma counseling as a trauma manager. You would be charged with the duty of setting up a place or center where trauma patients would visit for the help they need in overcoming different types of trauma. You would also be in charge of the team offering this service. This is typically emotional and mental trauma such as dealing with a life-threatening disease rather than physical trauma which is handled by physiotherapists.

9.  If you have a knack for numbers, the career of revenue cycle management may be just the one for you. You would be crunching the numbers to monitor cash flow and the profitability of a healthcare facility.

10.  Another healthcare management career option is in marketing and public relations. You would be in charge of creating and promoting the products or services offered by a health care facility or company that produces pharmaceutical products.

Getting there

Most every job in healthcare management requires a master’s degree, like an online Master’s in Nursing. Most master’s programs include residency, supervised internship or fellowship. Also, consider joining a professional association like the American College of Healthcare Executives. You can join as student associate and network your way to available opportunities.

Zack Jones is a recent graduate of Arizona State University’s English Literature Program.  Zack also has experience in content marketing, sports reporting and blogging.