What Does a Health Administrator Do?

Source: *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What Job Duties Do Health Administrators Perform?

As a health administrator, you plan and manage the delivery of health care services. Your duties mainly focus on business functions, such as finance, admissions, operations and personnel. In a small group practice, all administration duties would be your responsibility. In large group practices, you might have several assistants. In either setting, your primary objective will be to assure your organization delivers quality care and it operates efficiently.

At small health care facilities, you may be a generalist who directs every aspect of the operations. At large facilities, you may be one of many specialists supervising specific departments, such as surgery, nursing, information systems or medical records.

In a specialist position, you may develop budgets, procedures and policies for a department and coordinate operations with other departments. For example, as a health information manager, you may be responsible for making sure patient records are accurate, complete and private, whether they're paper-based or electronic. Clinical managers at large facilities typically have prior experience as a practitioner in the area they manage. For example, before directing a physical therapy department, you may have worked as a physical therapist.

Where Do Professionals Work?

General medical and surgical hospitals employ a majority of health care administrators. Other prominent employers include physician's offices, government, nursing homes, home health care services and outpatient care centers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as of May 2020, approximately 429,800 people worked as health care administrators. (www.bls.gov). Total employment was projected to reach 569,400 by 2030.

What Could I Expect to Earn?

December 2021 figures from PayScale.com show the annual earnings for health care administrators in the 10th-90th percentiles were $42,000-$119,000. These figures include bonuses and profit sharing. The BLS salary figures for the same range, as of May 2020, were $59,980-$195,630.

What Are Some Related Alternative Careers?

Some other careers that are similar to a health administrator include human resource manager and insurance underwriters. Both of these options require a bachelor's degree. Human resource managers manage and oversee the administrative function of an organization.They interview and hire, plan, and work between management and employees. Insurance underwriters determine if insurance should be provided and decide the terms and coverage amounts.