Master of Business Administration - Health Care Management

By Jennifer Willaims, allied health world contributing writer
Published: January, 10 2011

Master’s degrees in health care administration are geared towards preparing professionals to assume leadership roles in their careers. The field of health care administration is quite broad, but students who complete these programs will be prepared for careers as contract negotiators, nursing supervisors, or even as hospital administrators. Because this degree focuses on leadership, economics, health policy and law, strategic planning, and human resources, professionals are given the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of health care administration and assume advanced positions in clinics, hospitals, and long term care facilities.

Health care administrators can expect to find themselves involved in ensuring efficient and effective electronic health record integration. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has allocated incentives to providers who are able to successfully achieve electronic health record implementation. With such incentives at stake, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are confident that anywhere from 10% to 36% of physicians’ offices and hospitals will make the transition to EHR systems during 2011. Although this is only one change currently affecting our health care system, it is a challenge that health care administrators nationwide are rising to meet.

Balancing cost and quality care remain high priorities for the entire medical community. However, health care managers have an increasingly important role in this particular area. It is the position of the health care manager to create a balance between managing institutional costs and maintaining the highest quality care for patients. While this may not be an easy task, the MBA in Health Care Management degree prepares professionals to do just that.

Success in this field depends upon a highly comprehensive, complex curriculum that challenges students to understand the adversities facing the health care community. Issues like health care law, ethics, and finance are sure to have an impact on the overall function of each and every medical facility.  Health care managers must understand the outside economic environment so that they can adequately manage the economic environment within the health care sector.