Massachusetts Careers in Healthcare Management - MA

By Bonnie Walker, allied health world contributing writer
Published: July, 12 2010

Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who provide direct treatment to patients are the public face of our healthcare system.  However, our medical institutions could not function without the specially trained healthcare administrators who sit behind the scenes and oversee their daily operations.  Administrators are the glue that keeps the various departments of a large-scale healthcare facility such as a hospital or nursing home working together and functioning smoothly.  Every day, healthcare administrators are called upon to make decisions about budgetary allotments, financial expenditures, institutional policies, and staff training and management.  Some of these decisions are just as life-and-death as the ones that doctors make when caring for the ill and injured. 

Those who hope to become healthcare administrators should pursue a degree, preferably a graduate degree that will provide them with the knowledge and experience to make these decisions efficiently and competently.  The best program of study in the healthcare management field includes coursework in the basic principles of business management as well as healthcare economics, healthcare law and policy, and hospital operations.  Graduates of qualified degree programs in healthcare management will be able to choose from a plethora of healthcare administration jobs in Massachusetts.  Administrators in cities such as Boston, Winchester, and Marlborough will find opportunities at a range of prestigious medical institutions including Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, Winchester Hospital, and Marlborough Hospital.