Healthcare is a critical sector and the lifeline of any country. A well governed and modern healthcare industry is extremely crucial for the well-being of the people. The entire healthcare domain involves the services of not only medical experts but those of entrepreneurs, administrators and financial experts.

More about Healthcare Jobs

It is not necessary to be a doctor or a nurse to work in the healthcare sector. Apart from the core medical experts, good managers, financial professionals and public relations officers are also equally important for the industry to function smoothly. This is where healthcare administrators step in and play a vital role.

Healthcare Administrators – Job Description

Healthcare administrator is a very broad term and can include chief executive officer, chief financial officer, directors as well as management professionals. The top brass of the management and administration are mainly responsible for supervising the smooth running of the entire system.

They are responsible for taking major policy decisions and setting the guidelines and deciding the framework of the strategies to be employed. Usually these policies are decided in consultation with the doctors.

The medium and the junior level administrators are responsible for implementing the policies and carrying out the day-to-day activities. Their major responsibilities include:

1. Maintaining the budgets and keeping a track of the accounts on a day-to-day basis.

2. Handle staffing matters and ensure that all the rules and regulations are followed.

3. They must co-ordinate with several sections simultaneously, including, the medical staff, patients, the organizational staff, vendors and board members. They even must deal with the community members. Thus, they must be adept at handling people at various levels.

4. Healthcare administrators also need to regularly attend industry conventions and oversee facilities as a part of their regular job profile. This can include extensive traveling for which the administrators need to be prepared for.

5. Sometimes they also need to carry out marketing duties or business development strategies along with their regular share of administrative work.

6. In many medical units, administrators also manage support services like pathology and radiology departments, ambulatory services, contract negotiators and controllers.

7. Often in larger medical set-ups administrators have greater responsibilities that encompass the day-to-day as well as strategic tasks. In smaller healthcare centers, administrators mainly need to handle the day-to-day activities with the major policy decisions taken by the doctors themselves.

8. Often, medical practitioners require administrators to handle the business element while they take care of the core medical work.

Few Job Options

Here are some healthcare job options that job-seekers can consider under the umbrella of healthcare administration, for e.g. financial co-ordinator, medical secretary, unit secretary, auditors, analysts, administrative co-ordinator, administrative assistant, community relations co-ordinators and managers.

Basic Skill Set and Salary Structure

Candidates looking for healthcare administrator jobs should ideally have a degree in healthcare administration along with good computer knowledge, strong communication and inter-personal skills as well as analytical skills. Those who have a professionally done healthcare resume will get a great advantage. For this, it is recommended to glance through sample resumes to get a fair idea.

The salary can range from $50,000 for freshers to $85,000 for medium level positions. Senior level executives’ salaries can range from $150,000 to $250,000.

These are some of the basic guidelines that candidates should bear in mind while applying for a job of a healthcare administrator.