The Profession
Who they are: Health services managers oversee the inner workings of
Where they work: Hospitals, clinics, government agencies, pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, insurance providers, managed care organizations, and consulting firms.
What they do: Health services managers and administrators, direct, and coordinate medical and health services. They work on improving quality and efficiency, controlling costs, implementing new technology, recruiting and retaining health care professionals, ensuring compliance with changing regulations, billing and reimbursement, and implementing programs to improve the health of communities. Managers in nonclinical settings work in a variety of areas such as health insurance benefits and enrollment, health information technology, healthcare marketing, pharmacy benefit management, provider network contracting, medical device and biomedical consulting or sales, and health policy.
Where they work: They work in both clinical and nonclinical settings. They might specialize in managing a specific clinical area or department, a medical practice for a group of practitioners (e.g., physicians, dentists) or an entire facility.
Outlook: Healthcare administration is growing much faster than average. In the next ten years, it is expected that 17,600 new jobs in healthcare management will be created.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Education
At the U of M, both undergraduate and graduate programs in health services management are available. Undergraduate students can choose to major in Health Services Management. This degree includes courses in math, finance, healthcare systems, economics, and more. Students also complete an internship as part of the HSM program. Interested students who have completed some college credit can apply for the major.
Students interested in graduate programs can choose to complete a Master of Healthcare Administration, or MHA. This 21 month program involves business courses specifically designed for the unique aspects of healthcare. Students in the program can decide to take on a subspecialty in financial management, long term care administration, health policy, information and decision science, marketing management, maternal and child health, operations management, strategic management, or health products. Students in the program also complete a nine week residency over the summer.
U of M Program