Health Care Administration Career Overview

A Matter of Heart

As the health care field grows, the need for skilled administrators who can manage hospitals, long-term health facilities, and provider offices grows as well. Health care administrators deal with finances and regulations, but successful administrators say their passion for making a difference in people’s lives is central to their work.

Bob Siebel, the president of Carriage Health Care Companies, says that although he deals with the typical business issues, his goal is “to improve the quality of life for people who are in need of assistance.” Working in long-term health care requires business acumen, but it’s “ultimately a matter of heart.”

Fulfilling a Mission

“My three favorite things are quality improvement, leadership, and healthy aging,” says Sara Sinclair, CEO of the Sunshine Terrace Foundation. “I look for people who have servant leadership skills. People who do this job not for themselves, but to fulfill the mission of the organization,” says Sinclair.

David Klanderman, administrator of Wild Rose Manor, echoes the importance of service. “If you’ve got an ego, that won’t work very well in this job,” he says. Like many administrators in small facilities, Klanderman’s days include not only paperwork and official meetings, but helping patients, driving blood samples to be tested, and helping his staff get to work on the snowy Wisconsin highways.

Charlene Boyd, Administrator of Providence Mount Saint Vincent in Seattle, is passionate about a resident-directed philosophy that puts the needs of residents above the convenience of the institution. “We need to build health care models in the needs of the folks we serve, not the routines of the staff.”

What Administrators Do

Health care managers oversee hospital departments and direct planning. They run doctor’s offices and administer long-term care facilities. Sometimes behind the scenes, sometimes just inside the front door, health administrators must juggle multiple demands: managing finances, meeting regulatory requirements, adapting to changing technology, supporting and encouraging their employees and, most of all, providing compassionate care to their patients.

Others in the field work for insurance companies and HMOs, or for medical equipment suppliers. State and federal agencies hire administrators to manage public health programs and to regulate private health organizations. Employment of medical administrators is expected to grow faster than average over the next decade, along with the health care industry itself.

Career Paths

Health administrators come from a wide variety of backgrounds. While direct patient care experience is a definite asset, healthcare managers may specialize in business, administration, public health, a specific area of health care.

Some administrators move through several careers in their pursuit of service and leadership. Sara Sinclair trained as an RN, served as a director of nursing, and worked for the Utah Department of Health before becoming CEO of Sunshine Terrace.

David Klanderman left a career in health administration to train for the ministry, and served as a pastor for a decade before returning to the health care field. Matt Johnson, a student of health systems management, once considered medical school, and worked in higher education before embarking on a MS in Health Systems Management program. Charlene Boyd worked as an occupational therapist before moving into administrative roles, later earning a master’s degree in business.

Academic Training

A background in direct patient care can be a tremendous asset for a manager or administrator, and many academic programs prefer to enroll students who have health care or experience. At the same time, the job requires management skills similar to any business: the ability to handle finances, to hire effective staff, and to respond to a challenging regulatory environment. Because the field is so diverse, people from a wide variety of backgrounds can find a niche that uses their unique skills.

A master’s degree is usually required for high-level positions, and a wide range of degrees are available in specialty areas. Managers in specific clinical areas usually have a background in that field: physical therapy directors are trained physical therapists, and nursing directors come from the ranks of RNs.

Managers trained in direct patient care will find their careers enhanced by business courses, while those with a more general business background may be motivated to get experience in hands-on health care. David Klanderman actually trained as a CNA after become an administrator, to better understand the work and challenges faced by his staff.

Challenges

Detailed rules and regulations are part of every health care setting, but none more so than long-term care, often termed “the most regulated business in America.” Complying with detailed and complex regulations, maintaining positive relationships with regulatory agencies, and handling problems that arise are significant challenges for health administrators at all levels. Sara Sinclair says she aims to create a transparent, non-defensive relationship with state surveyors, and to work with them as professional peers.

Balancing the need to put patients first with the financial demands of an industry where up to 80% of costs are labor based is another huge challenge, says Charlene Boyd. Creating an environment that supports staff members and makes them feel good about their jobs reduces turnover and increases patient satisfaction.

Well Paid but Demanding

Health care administrators work in many types of facilities and at many levels of responsibility, and salaries vary accordingly, from a minimum of about $40,000 per year to over $118,000 for top administrators, according to federal surveys.

Top administrators may be well paid, but they work long hours with many demands on their time and energy. Everything from an angry patient to a computer breakdown may land in the administrator’s office.

For many entering the field, the complexity of the work is part of its attraction. Student Matt Johnson says, “There’s never a dull day in a medical center. The politics is changing, the technology is changing, and the payment structure is changing. Every day you’re faced with a set of problems you need to solve.”

Passion and Leadership

Health care administration offers exciting opportunities for people who combine caring for people with the desire to lead in a booming industry. Charlene Boyd describes the best administrators as people “who have passion for their work, vision for the future, and who understand the principles of leadership.” Matt Johnson concurs. “It’s not just about being profitable or not profitable. It’s caring about providing the best quality health care to the largest number of people.”