Healthcare Administration: What You Need To Know

Put very simply, healthcare administration is the business side of healthcare delivered in a primary (seeing the doctor for an illness, injury or screening), secondary (seeing a specialist, such as an oncologist or cardiologist) or tertiary (in a hospital) care environment.

Patients who visit a physician’s office or emergency department or are admitted to a hospital or rehabilitation facility see a variety of healthcare providers. While administrators may have limited interaction with patients, most work behind the scenes to ensure efficient delivery of services, compliance with industry standards and government regulations and smooth daily business operations.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in 2022 there were roughly 509,500 medical and health services managers (another name for healthcare administrators) working in the United States.

Healthcare administrators oversee the daily administrative operations of healthcare facilities like hospitals, medical practices, surgery centers, nursing and rehabilitation facilities and others. According to BLS, the typical duties of medical and health services managers may include: 

• Improving quality and efficiency in healthcare services 

• Developing goals and objectives across departments 

• Ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations 

• Creating schedules for staff 

• Managing patient fees, billing and other finances 

• Preparing departmental budgets to keep spending within prescribed funding limits 

• Communicating between the medical staff and department heads 

If you’re planning to pursue a career in healthcare administration, it’s important to know that healthcare administrators typically need a bachelor’s degree for roles in medical office supervision, patient accounting and billing, managed care coordination and provider network management, but master’s degrees are also common and preferred by some employers, according to the BLS. Education typically consists of business-related coursework combined with courses in health sciences-related topics like medical terminology, hospital organization and health information systems. At DeVry, we offer a variety of undergraduate and graduate level healthcare programs and specializations, including some that may be a good fit for you if you’re preparing to pursue a career in a healthcare administration role.

Strongly emphasizing health services and administrative skills, our Bachelor’s Degree in Healthcare Administration now offers 3 specializations, allowing you to choose the area of business that is right for you. This degree program is designed to help you develop the knowledge and skills to be effective in managing the delivery of care while controlling costs in a range of healthcare settings and administrative roles. Earned in a 100% online or hybrid format¹, these bachelor’s degree specializations cover topics like key trends in health services management, hardware and software to manage patient records, understanding healthcare costs and expenditures, principles and strategies of healthcare marketing and more.

If you’ve already earned a bachelor’s degree and want to advance your education, our Graduate Certificate in Health Services Management can be earned in as little as 8 months on an accelerated schedule and 1 year on a normal one.² This certificate can be earned as a standalone credential, or qualifying credits may be transferrable to our MBA with a Specialization in Health Services, or our Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a Healthcare Management Emphasis.³

Online courses in this graduate certificate program examine healthcare communication, healthcare policy in the United States, the evolution of legal and ethical aspects of healthcare and public and private healthcare plans.

Prepare to pursue leadership positions in administrative services management, health or medical services management or regulatory compliance with this online MBA specialization from DeVry and our Keller Graduate School of Management. Exploring many of the high-level issues facing healthcare economics and public policy, this Master of Business Administration program can help you develop leadership skills and gain knowledge about healthcare management as it examines the legal and ethical issues in the healthcare industry, trends in health insurance, finance and more.

Expand on the core skills of our Master’s in Public Administration degree program, where you’ll develop both project and people management skills by adding on healthcare-industry specific coursework centered on health rights and responsibilities, the policy and economics of healthcare and health services finance.   

Career pathways in healthcare administration vary according to administrative area and type of facility or healthcare-related organization. The projected job outlook in this occupational category is quite strong.  According to the BLS, employment of medical and health services managers is projected to grow 28% from 2022 to 2032 with 54,700 job openings for these professionals each year, on average, over the decade.⁴ Growth projected on a national level. Local growth will vary by location. BLS projections are not specific to DeVry University students or graduates and may include earners at all stages of their career and not just entry level. 

A partial list of healthcare administration careers you might prepare to pursue includes: 

Essential skills used in healthcare administration include:

Healthcare administrators are required to be well-versed in the federal and state regulations enacted to protect the safety and privacy of patients in all healthcare settings. Some major federal regulations governing health administration include:

The Occupational Safety and Health Act, widely known as OSHA, was enacted by Congress in 1970 to ensure safe and healthful working conditions by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, education and assistance. Protocols cover topics like safety gear, standards for filling and labeling, the safest ways to clean and store products and equipment and a multitude of other topics affecting the workplace and workers.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a healthcare-specific regulation enacted in 1996 to create standards to ensure the protection of patient information, known as protected health information, or PHI. HIPAA mandates specific regulations concerning the disclosure of PHI and the security of digital filing and data transferring practices.

These interrelated regulations were enacted in 1989 and are intended to reduce the risk of abuse and unethical conduct by healthcare providers. 

Stark’s Law generally prohibits physicians from referring their Medicare and Medicaid patients to facilities in which they or their families have an ownership stake.

The AKS is a federal law intended to protect patients and eliminate abuse and fraud from federal programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, among others. The law makes it a crime to exchange a gift or anything of value with the intent to gain something, as in a healthcare provider accepting a payment or service to solicit Medicare or another federal program.

Passed in 1986, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) ensures that healthcare providers put the health and safety of others over their own gain. EMTALA requires medical centers to stabilize and treat those who come into their emergency rooms regardless of the patient’s financial standing or insurance status. The intent is to prevent hospital and health system emergency departments from denying people access to critical care, even if those patients can’t afford the treatment.

The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act (PSQIA) of 2005 ensures optimal patient safety in medical facilities. PSQIA provides a voluntary and confidential reporting system that allows anyone to report concerns or potential hazards that could affect patients’ safety. PSQIA allows people to come forward with their concerns without fear of repercussions or backlash in the form of denied care, withheld promotions or increased charges.

Healthcare administration is a broad, multi-faceted field with a range of roles that make a real difference in how patients receive care. These professionals are essential to keeping hospitals, doctor’s offices and other care facilities running smoothly and efficiently, while safeguarding patient data and connecting people to the resources they need. If you’re interested in working in the healthcare field but prefer not to work in a clinical capacity, you may want to find out more about educational opportunities that can prepare you to pursue a career in healthcare administration.