Begin Studying for Your Degree in Health Care Management

Health care management once referred primarily to directing the nursing staff in a hospital or clinic and the position was only obtained after years of experience. Today, however, you can earn a BS degree in health care management online as long as you already have a nursing degree and get into a management position in much less time. You can also earn an AS in health care management, or if you want to be more involved in the financial aspects of health care, you can earn your MBA in health care management.

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The degree level that you need will be partly determined by where you want to work. If you live and plan to stay in a small community, a bachelor’s degree will get you an entry level job and many mid-level jobs as well, since, remember, you will already have a nursing license which will most likely be an RN. Thus you could be overseeing and coordinating the activities in a doctor’s office, small clinic, community center, or school system. If you live in a major metropolitan area or if you plan to work for the government, you will need an advanced degree—at least a master’s—in order to climb very far. However, giving the need for an understanding of not only health care but also a lot of financial issues involved in running a health care facility, many employers and hospital boards look first to those with an MBA in Health Care Management.

As a health care management professional, you could be performing jobs in a wide variety of environments. You might be working in a more traditional hospital, clinic, or doctor’s office, but you could also be working in the community where you would oversee those who are working directly in community service positions such as senior centers, children’s foster care programs, teen pregnancy centers, public schools, or even in industrial centers where you could be responsible for the health of employees. Some other possibilities are consulting firms, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, and universities and research institutions. If you want to serve your country and have a health management career as well, you will find that the army, navy and air force all have health management careers available through the uniformed services.

It is estimated that about 100,000 people work in some sort of health management position in today’s market place. Your first job might be an entry or midlevel management position in a specialized care area such as information systems, material management, marking and public affairs, human resources, medical staff relations, or planning and development, just to name a few of the less common possibilities.

Salaries, particularly for hospital executives,  have an equally wide range of possibilities beginning in the low six figures to as much as half a million a year for a CEO of a major hospital complex. Of course if you are working in a public school system or for your state Social Services Department, you salary will be less, but with experience you can still count on about $50,000 a year.