A Career in Healthcare Management - Step by Step Guide

 For most of our lives, most people have thought of the medical industry as becoming doctors, but the medical industry is not only about doctors. Sure, they are central to the medical industry, but so are many other professions, and today we have a very interesting and amazing career for you. The career has very high demand and is not very competitive like doctors. 

The aging population today requires a high demand for personalized care as well as advances in the field that make this area more exciting than ever before. The medical and health services industry is booming with opportunities for those looking to find long-term, fulfilling work. And diseases like COVID-19 have accelerated the need for proper healthcare worldwide. Countries have started investing more and more in their healthcare infrastructure, leading to a high demand for jobs in the field. So we’re going to talk about one such career path that is in demand today- Medical and Health Services Management. 

 In this blog, we will talk about 5 key points:

• What is Medical and Health Services Management
• What are the Future Scope and Job opportunities in this Career
• What Skills are required to be Medical and Health Services Management
• Roles & Responsibilities of a Medical and Health Services Manager
• Complete Roadmap on How to build your career in Medical and Health Services Management. 

What is this Medical and Health Services Career all about?

Well, Medical And Health management is a field that deals with the planners, directors, and coordinators who work behind the scenes to keep hospitals, nursing homes, group practices, and other healthcare facilities running efficiently.

They are responsible for managing the day-to-day operations, including working with doctors on patients' care plans. They use public health knowledge as well as dedication to improve the communities they serve by ensuring quality service delivery throughout all levels in an effortless manner. 

Medical and Health services managers are the hidden backbone of our healthcare system. These hardworking individuals make sure that hospitals, clinics, or other organizations run smoothly by keeping an eye on things like timely delivery, hospital room allocations, and staff morale levels, for example. 

M&HS Managers work closely together across disciplines, such as nurses or administrative staff, so everyone can be aware of what's going down at any given time.

When you think of the most important people in your life, this is probably not one that comes to mind. However, for those working within hospitals and healthcare facilities across the world - medical professionals such as nurses or doctors who work day-in/day out with patients suffering from chronic illnesses; administrators coordinating staff members' schedules so they can provide quality patient service.

Medical services managers or health services management professionals are vital to the overall healthcare organization and efficacy of a healthcare setting. They work primarily in hospitals with teams of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare personnel. They often take care of the insurance proceedings, and interact with patients and medical staff to ensure care is delivered accurately and promptly.

Why is it really important? 

In the coming years, there will be an increased demand for more medical and health services managers as baby boomers age. This generation accounts for about one-third of all people in the world today but is expected to account for nearly half (44%) of all healthcare spending by 2032 due, largely because they’re less healthy than other groups with similar demographics. In addition, many hospitals are seeing growth within group practices which requires managing both human resources while also providing quality care. 

The challenge for a manager in the healthcare field is that you have oversight and responsibility for everyone and everything in the organization. Medical and health services managers have a great amount of responsibility. Not only do they manage the demands of a diverse range of patients, but they must also meet the expectations of upper management — all while managing a team of other healthcare professionals. The job can be both challenging and rewarding.

Future Scope 

Recently, The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that job opportunities for medical and Health services managers would expand rapidly, at a rate of approximately 18% between 2018 and 2028. In that period, an estimated 139,600 jobs should open up. This rate of growth is well above the national average, which hovers around 5%. It is also considered among the top 10 professions rapidly growing in recent years worldwide. So there is a huge demand in this career.

Major Roles

Some of the major roles that you can get after a Medical and Health Services management qualification are Healthcare Manager, Healthcare management professionals, Medical Director, Clinical Manager, Health director, Practice manager, Clinical Supervisor, Nursing home administrator, Laboratory manager, Director of surgical services, Office manager, and Services coordinator are amongst many. 

Companies that offer healthcare management jobs in these roles are surely all major Hospitals, UnitedHealth Group, Medtronic, Abbott Laboratories, CVS Health, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Boston Consulting Group, Bajaj Healthcare, SBI Insurance, Life insurance corporation, Fortis Healthcare, and many more in the healthcare industry.  

Salary

When we talk about the average salary for a Medical and Health Services Managers role, these days in the job market for an entry-level job is somewhere between 58k to 80k US Dollars annually on a world scale. Generally, government agencies or private institutions offer salaries close to this number, though salaries can vary significantly across institutions and geographic regions. Other factors that impact salaries include experience level and educational background. and for more experienced roles, can go upto somewhere between 150K to 200k US dollars annually, which is excellent for almost everyone. 

Now that we know there is huge growth in this career let’s explore the skills required and job responsibilities, and an ideal workday in this profession. 

Skills 

As far as Skills are concerned, you need the following few for sure. 

Medical and Health services managers need a versatile skill set to succeed in this dynamic work environment of hospitals, community health organizations, insurance companies, clinics, and other healthcare organizations.

These core competencies include the following.

Management and Administration  

As the name suggests, this would be the first skill trait for any manager. On any given day, medical services managers tackle multiple concurrent responsibilities, sometimes within short time frames, including time managing budgets and supervising teams. 

Communication and interpersonal relations  

Medical and health services managers have a lot of communication responsibilities. They must listen well, and write clearly so there are no mistakes or confusion on their behalf when talking with other people in the community as well as healthcare professionals such as public speakers who will be addressing an audience members' concerns about certain topics like medicine prices or quality issues within our system, etc., but also require excellent speaking skills because sometimes you may need to address government officials if things get too out of control. 

Compassion  

Managers in the medical and health services field with people who are facing challenges, such as those struggling with mental illness or substance abuse. Having compassion for one’s circumstances will help you figure out a better healthcare route for the patient. 

Analysis and decision-making  

Medical and health services managers are in charge of interpreting data for their organizations, which can be challenging when new regulations come out. They also need the ability to make quick decisions about resources while maintaining patient quality care--something that's difficult without a deep understanding or experience with whatever type of analytics is being used. 

You may need, in some cases, some technical skills as well for organizations that use regularly updated software for medical records. Other basic skills can include problem-solving, Leadership skills, Team building, Ability to perform under pressure, Focus and Attention to detail, Research skills, creative and logical thinking, writing reports, and making presentations as well. 

Let’s talk about what exactly a Medical and health services manager does. 

Medical and health services managers (healthcare managers) carry out diverse responsibilities across many departments. Their primary concern, regardless of where they work, is to ensure top-quality care is delivered to patients, general operations run efficiently, and staff are motivated and satisfied.

Health services managers are responsible for many of the operational duties in a hospital or medical setting. Common duties include Creating and maintaining records of budgets, Managing the day-to-day records of the facility, overseeing the training and recruitment of hospital staff, Creating work schedules for healthcare providers, Coordinating delivery of care and services by the healthcare team, and Maintaining close communication with medical leadership and directors. To put it simply, Medical and Health services managers combine business and healthcare priorities to ensure hospitals function as smoothly as possible.

Now let’s look into the most curious section on how to pursue this career with a complete step-by-step roadmap for school students, college students, and professionals who wish to switch or enhance skills for better roles. 

How to pursue this career -  Complete Roadmap

If you are in high school, You can approach this career in two ways. Typically, becoming a medical and health services manager involves certain steps. Having a bachelor’s degree comes first. 

(Step One: Earn a Bachelor’s Degree)

Medical and health service managers are typically required to have a bachelor’s degree in something like with a focus on healthcare. 

Medical and Health Services Management is a specialized degree, and we usually recommend getting into a broader degree in your undergraduate rather than going for a specialized one right away. And that is because even if you feel like this is what you want to do, there are whole connected areas of expertise that you haven’t even explored yet. So a degree in any medical field or even any other connected field can be of great use. You can explore the field with a couple of month-long Introductory courses in online platforms like Coursera, Edex, and all. Even a lot of universities have launched specific courses in healthcare management that can be worth a shot before setting up for them. 

Here are some of the Top Online Courses that we suggest:

• The Business of Health Care Specialization
• Healthcare Organization Operations Specialization
• MS in Management: Digital Transformation in Healthcare

If you are already pursuing your undergraduate degree in the related field of biology, healthcare, or even engineering or business, you can absolutely take up a Master’s degree in Medical and health services or Healthcare Management. That will help you become an expert in this field. If you are starting new and have no knowledge of this field, but you have an interest in healthcare, then take up online courses on online platforms to build your knowledge and then move to a Master’s degree.

Medical and Health Services Management, as we said before, is a specialized degree, so it is mostly offered as a Master's degree and, in some cases, as a specialization course under any other master's. It's primarily about managing the perfect balance between business and medicine. A lot of universities are offering programs that can educate you to be in Medical and Health Services Management.

Some such universities that have world-class programs in Healthcare Management are:

1. Columbia University
2. USC
3. Johns Hopkins University
4. University of Michigan
5. University of Minnesota
6. University of Toronto
7. UBC
8. University of Essex
9. SRH-Berlin
10. AIIMS, and many more. 

If you're looking for a program that will teach you skills in the field of education, we recommend taking some time to examine each university's curriculum. Or if you are unable to do the research by yourself, don’t worry, we are here. You can contact us, and we can help you step by step in getting you or your child ready for this Career. 

For the ones who aren’t sure whether you should take this course or not, we would recommend putting some time in between your graduation and post-graduation and getting some experience in the field before committing to Post Grad.  A job or an internship in the healthcare sector, probably in a hospital, can put things into perspective for you. 

For Professionals, Medical and Health services managers work closely with numerous teams, including medical teams, nurses, insurance agents, researchers, and patients, to make sure everything is smooth sailing. The M&HS managers are usually in an in-house position within the hospital premises. So if you are already in the medical field and are looking for an alternative career, this might be a good opportunity to make the switch.  Although it's never easy to jump from one specialization to the other, it's not that hard either. You need proper motivation and correct guidance to do it right. So if you want to switch to this field in the middle of your career, then knowledge and interest always come first, for sure. 

If you come from a similar field, your skillset will be similar, given a few needed upgrades. But if you don’t have any prior experience in the field, we would recommend advancing your skills with shorter-duration courses before making the switch. Start small, try to take some courses to learn more about the field along with a possibility of a Master's degree in M&HS management or healthcare management where you can learn and apply the knowledge. Once you have enough confidence in the subject and command of the required skill, start applying for bigger roles. 

Lastly, we want to tell you no matter what stage you are at, whether you are a college student or a working professional or even a high school student or maybe a parent watching this video, no matter if this is the first time you are learning about Medical and Health services management or you are already working to build your skills in this career, whether you are 100% sure or you are indecisive, it is absolutely okay. There are no right or wrongs in career selection, it's about learning, experimenting, and becoming better. If you are indecisive, that is absolutely okay; if you need individual advice, reach out to us, and we will make sure you find the right career for yourself or for your child. No matter what stage you are at, we are here to mentor you. We are sure you will find your way to build an extraordinary life. 

If you are a creative person, have an interest in Medicine and management, are compassionate, and have done a lot of volunteer work, then success as a Medical and Health manager should come easily to you. And this could be the right Career for you.

Author: Shirish Gupta

Shirish is a TEDx Speaker, Entrepreneur & Youth Mentor. Shirish runs a highly successful Youtube Channel (shirishgee). He has been featured on National television multiple times and has won the prestigious Philip Kotler Award. Shirish is on a mission to mentor today’s Youth and create a ripple effect of positive impact across the planet. He believes that the Youth have a unique opportunity to Build an 'Xtraordinary Life' for themselves and make a positive global change. 

We are the new school of change-makers looking to build a great life and great a positive impact through our work and life. Join the tribe and build your Best Life today! Shirish calls it your Xtraordinary Life :)