When you’re working on obtaining your Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, choosing a concentration can help you focus on achieving your career goals. If you’re planning to work in the healthcare field, an MBA with a concentration in healthcare administration could be the right choice for you. This concentration helps you gain the skills you’ll need to be a leader in this field running a large hospital or healthcare facility. Take a look at some of the benefits of concentrating in healthcare administration during your MBA degree program.
1. Consider a Wide Range of Career Paths
When you have an MBA with a concentration in healthcare administration, you’ll find several potential career paths available. Whether you prefer being in charge of a large hospital or working as a consultant, there are many careers this type of degree can help you prepare for. As a hospital CEO, your responsibilities might include leading initiatives focused on the long-term success of your facility and communicating hospital plans and news with the public. Another option is to work as a hospital administrator. These administrators oversee hospital staff, ensure compliance with regulations, handle the budget, and perform other tasks.
As a healthcare consultant, your job would involve helping hospitals or other healthcare facilities make improvements as needed. In addition to helping these facilities succeed, these improvements can also have a positive impact on patients. Other healthcare positions that could open up to an MBA holder can include practice manager for private facilities, healthcare finance manager, and medical and health services manager for healthcare organizations or hospital departments.
Depending on the job you end up doing, average salaries can range widely. For example, medical and health services managers have an average salary of $104,280 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). However, CEO pay can be considerably higher, especially for those running a large facility.
2. Make a Difference
Working as a hospital CEO or healthcare administrator gives you an opportunity to make a major difference that can help improve quality of life for patients and your staff. Running a hospital or other healthcare facility allows you to ensure that these places provide high-quality healthcare while also operating as efficiently as possible. This can improve employee morale among nurses and other healthcare workers, which helps improve the quality of healthcare services that patients receive. Through your work in healthcare administration, you can also take steps to improve patient and employee safety. Making your facility a safer place for staff and patients can have a significant impact on their quality of life overall.
Keep in mind that healthcare facilities are a vital part of communities. By ensuring that a local hospital, doctor’s office, or other healthcare facility runs efficiently and safely, you’re also playing a role in improving your local community. In fact, successfully running a healthcare facility and ensuring high-quality care could help attract people to your community, boosting the local economy and population. Your efforts as a hospital CEO or healthcare administrator can help your area grow and thrive over the years.
3. Lead the Way with Change
The healthcare field has been changing in recent years, especially when it comes to the increased use of technology. More and more healthcare facilities are offering virtual visits as an alternative to in-person visits, for example. These visits offer greater convenience for some patients while also lowering the risk of spreading illnesses among patients and staff. Healthcare facilities are also relying on technology to maintain and store patient records and other vital information. Whether you run a big hospital or a small, private practice, you can help lead the way and manage change.
As a healthcare administrator or consultant with an MBA education, you can research the latest technology available that can help healthcare facilities provide better patient care or improve the security of online records and other sensitive information. Being in charge of these changes can help you ensure that your facility makes the most of this increased use of technology for greater efficiency. With advancements in these technological tools and with new tools being introduced, you’ll have plenty to do when it comes to helping your healthcare facility adapt to this changing landscape.
4. Expect Solid Job Growth
Having a traditional MBA might not necessarily guarantee that you’ll find a large number of job opportunities. The job outlook for an MBA graduate can vary considerably depending on the field you want to work in. While some fields are experiencing solid growth, others are on the decline or showing very little growth overall. This isn’t the case for healthcare administrators with an MBA. In fact, healthcare administration jobs are experiencing a job outlook that is much higher than average. For example, between now and 2029, medical and health services managers have a job outlook of 32 percent according to BLS. This high percentage means that experts are expecting a continued high demand for these kinds of jobs.
When you have solid job growth in your field, you can look forward to having multiple healthcare administration opportunities to pursue. Since jobs in this area are expected to be plentiful for several more years, you should face less competition while being able to find a position that fits your career and salary goals.
5. Develop Essential Skills and Gain Industry Knowledge
While a traditional MBA program offers the skills needed for a business career, you won’t necessarily learn in-depth skills that a specific field such as healthcare requires. Going into the healthcare field with a traditional MBA can mean that you’re missing out on developing the skills you need in order to thrive. With a concentration in healthcare administration as part of your MBA program, you can expect to learn these skills. To be a successful hospital CEO or healthcare administrator, you will need traditional business skills for leadership, team building, and critical thinking. However, you’ll also need to understand the industry.
An MBA with a concentration in healthcare administration gives you an opportunity to gain knowledge of the healthcare industry. This combination of industry knowledge and business skills provides you with a competitive edge over other MBA graduates. You’ll also be in a better position to handle the responsibilities and tasks that are part of being a healthcare administrator, whether you end up operating a public hospital or a private medical practice.
If the idea of being a healthcare leader fits your career goals, please contact the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga today. Our flexible MBA program offers a concentration in Healthcare Administration, so you can achieve your goals. Our program options include a flexible program with a mix of online and in-person classes and a fully online program.
