What is Healthcare Management?

Last Updated December 4, 2020

Healthcare management is the area that oversees the operations in every type of healthcare facility, including hospitals, physicians’ clinics, outpatient surgery centers and long-term care facilities. While many associate healthcare careers with physicians, nurses and other clinicians, healthcare management also provides a wealth of job opportunities.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in all healthcare occupations is projected to grow by 15% from 2019 to 2029,¹ much faster than the average for all occupations, adding about 2.4 million new jobs.* This rapid expansion of the healthcare industry is creating the need for more professionals to manage healthcare operations, with the goal of making them more efficient and effective.

For those with a degree in healthcare management, the job opportunities, career growth and salary potential stand to be even more plentiful.

What Do You Do in Healthcare Management?

Those who choose a career in healthcare management focus on the overall management and big picture of the organization or a specific department they manage. In overseeing all business aspects of the organization, healthcare management professionals often dig deeper into the day-to-day activities of departmental staff, processes and budgets and finance.  

The specific job duties can vary depending on the job title and the type of healthcare operation. For example, serving as the medical and health services manager of a major hospital presents different challenges than managing business operations at a physicians’ clinic. But both are part of the healthcare management field.

Wherever they may work, healthcare managers focus on leading the business aspect of healthcare, with an overarching goal of making their operations as efficient as possible, while ensuring financial effectiveness and also improving the quality of care. They set the organization’s or department’s vision and mission by developing goals and objectives.

Regardless of job title or location, those who work in healthcare management should have strong leadership skills and expertise in the complexities of the healthcare industry. Other key attributes include an adherence to evidence-based decision making and strategic and tactical thinking in a healthcare business setting.

What Types of Jobs are in Healthcare Management?

Jobs titles in the field cover a variety of management and administrative roles within healthcare, including healthcare compliance manager, medical and health services manager and administrative services manager. Like many of the jobs within healthcare, job openings and career growth potential in healthcare management roles are higher than the national averages. For example, the number of people working as medical and health services managers is expected to increase 32% between 2019 and 2029—far faster than the 4% average* for all occupations projected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.²

Other job titles in healthcare management include:

• Physician’s clinic manager: This manager may oversee one doctor’s office or the operation of multiple clinics within a physician group.
• Health information manager: This role is less about departmental, people or office management and more about technical management, as this role oversees the systems that collect and securely store patient records.
• Nursing home manager: Like the physician’s clinic manager, this role may oversee operations at a single nursing home or a system of nursing homes.
• Finance manager: As the title indicates, this role focuses on the management of the financial operations of a healthcare facility or system. This manager will most likely come from a finance or accounting background, and, in a larger organization serve in a department with the chief financial officer as the head.
• Quality improvement manager: In this position, healthcare managers focus on ways to make operations more efficient, while also improving the quality of patient care.

Healthcare Management vs. Healthcare Administration

Many of the jobs listed above have both management and administrative responsibilities. Similarities do exist between healthcare management and healthcare administration, but there are differences that every healthcare professional should know.

Healthcare administrators typically focus on managing clinical staff and their day-to-day activities. That includes working with human resources to develop recruiting strategies and training programs. They closely oversee the delivery of patient care and services, often by department, unit or even floor, depending on the type and size of the healthcare organization.

Leading a healthcare organization’s overall strategy and overseeing the business operations is where healthcare management comes in. For this strategic business role, healthcare management requires a strong education in finance and budgeting, with professionals needing to know the details of both the cost and profit centers for the healthcare organization or department they oversee.

Healthcare managers need to see both the big picture and the details of running the healthcare operation, so the management and administrative duties can often overlap.

Getting Your Degree in Healthcare Management

Those working in healthcare management usually hold at least a bachelor’s degree. However, master’s degrees are common among those working in management or hire positions and earning a graduate degree can lead to higher earnings within the top jobs in the field.

“Degrees that focus on both management and healthcare combine business-related courses with courses in medical terminology, hospital organization, and health information systems,” emphasizes the Occupational Outlook Handbook of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

A healthcare management program emphasizing business leadership skills can help aspiring professionals to develop expertise in strategic decision making, market analysis and planning, negotiation and meeting the leadership challenges specific to the healthcare industry.

Michigan State University’s Master of Science in Healthcare Management – Leadership emphasizes the study and application of healthcare management within a solid business framework, all in an accessible 100% online program developed by the leading management faculty of MSU’s Broad College of Business in collaboration with healthcare industry advisors.  

Do you aspire to leadership within the healthcare field? MSU’s M.S. in Healthcare Management – Leadership could help you reach that goal!

¹Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Healthcare Occupations. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/home.htm (visited October 27, 2020).

²Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Medical and Health Services Managers. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/medical-and-health-services-managers.htm#tab-6 (visited October 27, 2020).

*National long-term projections may not reflect local and/or short-term economic or job conditions and do not guarantee actual job growth. Information provided is not intended to represent a complete list of hiring companies or job titles, and degree program options do not guarantee career or salary outcomes. Students should conduct independent research on specific employment information.