If you have always dreamed of working behind the scenes in the healthcare field, you may be interested in learning what types of business skills a healthcare administrator needs. Many skills can be attained through training and degree programs, but some are inherent. You will need to consider your strengths and your weaknesses no matter what field you are interested in, but when you are transitioning to a new career that requires a degree, you want to be sure that you are a good fit for the role you are aiming for. Read this guide to developing the right skills, and discover whether or not you are a good administrator.
Resource: Top 10 Best Online Healthcare Administration Degree Programs
Leadership and Management Skills
As an administrator, one of your main responsibilities is to lead a team and to administrate a specific department or role. Because of this, it is important that you are an inherent leader and a talented manager. How many people you manage and how chaotic your environment is depends on where you work. If you work in a smaller physician's office or a clinic, you could manage an entire team in a slower environment. If, however, you are an administrator at a hospital or a large medical facility, you could be assigned to some staff members but not the entire department.
Problem-solving Skills and Creative Thinking
Administrators can face everyday problems and some unusual problems as well. This is why you need to be a problem-solver and a leader at the same time to succeed as a health services manager. You can learn how to solve problems while you are studying for a health administration degree, but it does take creative thinking in administrative roles to really solve a problem confidently. Think about if you are willing to be the responsible party who will be handed the problems for resolution before you enter this field.
You Must Be a Fluent Speaker in the Legalese
The healthcare field is highly regulated. There are several different healthcare policies and legal regulations that are enforced by local communities, states, and by the Federal government. You will need to not just understand the healthcare policies and all of the legalese, you will also need to implement the policies and apply them to the facility that you work in. You also need to be flexible and able to adapt to the new policies as they take effect. You cannot be someone who is complacent, because regulations are always changing.
You Must be Technologically Inclined
You do not need to be an expert with technology, but you do need to be comfortable on computers. A majority of managers need to be able to use the administration software programs to access electronic medical records and other types of patient files. If you do not know computers, you will need extra training so that it becomes second-nature to use them.
There are several different career paths that you can stroll down in healthcare administration. If you are looking for a field that is showing a dramatic growth in demand in the upcoming years, consider becoming a health services administrator. While experience is helpful, you will need a degree to compete in the recruiting process. If you possess the business skills you need, start comparing the accredited degree programs and then you can become a highly talented healthcare administrator.
Additional Resources:
Top 20 Best Online Master's in Healthcare Informatics Degree Programs
Top 10 Online Master's in Public Health Administration (MPH) Degree Programs