Bachelor's in Health Care Administration: Career and Salary Facts

A health care administration program covers business basics along with hospital policies and ethics. Read about the curriculum for these bachelor's degree programs, job duties for graduates and the potential salary.

What Are Career Options for Health Care Administration?

This program will prepare you for entry-level managerial positions in many kinds of clinical, ambulatory and emergency care agencies. Medical and health services managers serve to make medical facilities as efficient as possible while maintaining a high quality of care and following state and federal regulations. They are responsible for staffing facilities, setting goals, monitoring budgets and keeping track of finances. They also represent the facility on governing boards. Take a look at the following chart for an overview of how to enter this field.

Degree Required	Bachelor's, Master's or Doctoral degree
Education Field of Study	Health Care Administration
Key Responsibilities	Manage personnel, monitor finances, ensure regulations are being followed and represent facilities when meeting with other professionals
Job Growth (2020-2030)*	32% growth (for all medical and health services managers)
Median Salary (2030)*	$104,280 (for all medical and health services managers)

Source: *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

What Will I Learn with a Bachelor's Degree in Healthcare Administration?

You will learn how to manage staff, organize a medical business, manage tasks and schedules, make decisions and solve problems. Through a number of classes you will gain the edge on healthcare information technology, understand business and medical laws, perform public relations duties and work with the community.

Some of the subjects you may encounter are medical terminology, medical laws, medical insurance, health management, financial management in healthcare, case management and cultural diversity. Some of the other basics to be covered are human resource skills, marketing, financial planning, healthcare ethics and epidemiology.

You will also need to earn licensure if you want to work in healthcare management. All states require licensure, but requirements vary, so check with your state's board of health to find out what the requirements are where you live.

What Are the Job Tasks?

Much of your job will include creating and implementing management policies for the staff and doctors at your organization. You may manage scheduling, make decisions about buying equipment, develop budgets and be available for all hours of business. Job duties vary substantially by setting: you may be responsible for managing an entire small organization or a department in a hospital. You will be expected to assess workers, hire and fire workers, schedule employees and upgrade software and technology.

How Much Can I Make?

In 2020, medical and health services managers made an average salary of $118,800, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov). The top five settings that offer positions as healthcare managers are hospitals, doctor's offices, nursing homes, outpatient centers and home health care services. The top five highest paying states for this career are District of Columbia, New York, Hawaii, California and Massachusetts.

What Are Some Related Alternative Careers?

With a bachelor's degree in social work, human resources or a business related field you may find a few other careers that relate to medical and health services management. Social and community service managers oversee the employees and budgets of community organizations and social services, similar to how medical and health service managers oversee medical facilities. Human resource managers are responsible for hiring employees in a company. Insurance underwriters need to have a good sense of finances, to be able to evaluate applications and make depressions on what coverage amounts and premiums should apply to an insurance client.