More people are considering a career in healthcare administration since the field is thriving. With healthcare facilities implementing new technologies while simultaneously embracing electronic platforms, many of them need administrators to handle the added data load. If you're interested in a healthcare administration career, be prepared to master the following skills.
Resource: 15 Great Small Colleges for a Bachelor's in Healthcare Administration 2015
Leadership
Be sure to master your leadership skills while earning your Bachelor's degree. As a healthcare administrator, you will likely be over a large team of employees. In fact, if you wind up working for a healthcare facility or a small hospital, you could be in charge of the entire staff. To be successful, hone your management and organizational skills. This will help you keep your staff on track, which will ensure that your workplace operates smoothly. You'll need to be comfortable making big decisions and delegating. Successful leaders establish goals that benefit patients, the medical team and stockholders.
Legal
Healthcare administrators often work on the legal side of the career field. Because of this, you must understand medical policies. Along with understanding them, you'll need to plan the best way to implement them. Keep in mind that officials modify and update healthcare regulations frequently, so you'll need to stay abreast of changes. Be prepared to make major policy changes quickly. Also, keep your communication skills sharp since it will be up to you to bring your staff current as soon as possible when changes arise. While attending school, consider focusing on the legal side of your education to be successful in the field.
Technology
Since technology skills are needed to work as a healthcare administrator, make sure that you're comfortable with this area of the industry before starting the program. Once you become an administrator, you'll be overseeing the latest coding for a medical facility. You'll also be taking care of billing software, updating records and imputing staff schedules. Because medical facilities and hospitals use electronic records, you'll need to be adept at learning new programs and teaching them to others. Technology in the field has resulted in coding updates. As this is likely to continue, it will be up to you to implement them.
Business
While attending school to earn your Bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration, pay particular attention to your business classes as this is a much-needed skill in the field. Hospital administrators run their facilities like a business, so you must understand basic business principals, general management information and system operations. Business skills include being able to communicate effectively with workers in other departments while understanding their job tasks and responsibilities. Before entering a healthcare administration program, make sure that you're comfortable becoming the face of a medical organization. Be prepared to dress professionally and always look your best.
Problem Solving
Once you start working as a healthcare administrator, you'll face situations that you must resolve. Because this is an important area of the job, focus your efforts on perfecting your problem solving skills while you are working through the program. Plan to solve administrative, staff and customer problems. Often, issues that arise within a healthcare facility require creative solutions. To succeed in the field, you must be comfortable coming up with clever ways to fix them. You'll also need to make evaluations, enact policies that establish quality patient care and negotiate.
Healthcare administration is a career field that pays well. It is also growing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects it to expand by approximately 17 percent by the year 2022. If you decide to earn your Bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration, you'll be working in a career that is interesting and necessary.
Additional Resources:
50 Best Schools for a Healthcare Administration Degree 2016
Top 10 Best Online Healthcare Administration Degree Programs 2016