Online bachelor's degree programs in health care administration

The demand for health care services has never been greater. If you would like to play a role in ensuring that patients receive quality care, and working behind the scenes is your style, there are a host of administrator roles available to you. As the structure of the health care industry evolves, health care administrators are challenged with improving the efficiency and quality of care while controlling costs.

Health care administration degrees: What to expect

Health care management professionals need a broad education in a variety of subjects. Online bachelor's degree programs in health care administration provide the necessary qualifications for an entry-level health care management position.

Typical curricula for bachelor's degree programs in health services administration include coursework such as:

• Financial reporting and analysis
• Micro- and macroeconomics
• Health systems management
• Health professions practice
• Global and environmental health
• Peer health education
• Consumer health
• Health care law and ethics
• Community health
• Health care systems in the U.S.
• Research and writing in the health professions

Undergraduate health care administration curricula will vary by school and program specialization, but understanding the basic concepts of health care policy, financial management and reporting, and public health are essential.

Health care administration degrees: Career outlook

Through 2018, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects faster than average employment growth at a rate of 16 percent for health care management jobs. For May 2009, the BLS reports that medical and health services managers earned a mean annual wage of $90,970.

Mean annual salary varies depending upon a given industry or facility within the field. For example, another sampling of mean salaries for the same year found the following:

• Health care administrators in medical-surgical hospitals earned $96,660
• Health services administrators in physicians offices garnered $88,650
• Outpatient care center administrators made $84,980
• Home health care center administrators made $83,160
• Nursing care facilities administrators brought home $77,560

Top earners in health care administration made between $133,020 and $156,050. They worked in mail-order services, medical equipment manufacturing, pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing and distribution.

Some of the higher salaries in this field are earned by those with graduate degree or 5 to 10 years of consecutive experience in the field. Think about this as a long-term career, if you want to make top-notch earnings.

Some early professional positions that you can begin with an online bachelor's degree in health care administration are described below:

• Assistant administrators aid top administrators and handle daily decisions. Assistant administrators direct activities in clinical settings
• Nursing home administrators manage personnel, finances, facility operations and admissions
• Clinical managers possess training and experience in a specific clinical area
• Health information managers are responsible for the maintenance and security of all patient records

For more information, visit our Guide to Medical and Health Science Majors, where you will find in-depth research on bachelor's degree programs in health care administration, health services administration, health promotion and education and more. Or browse below and compare online health care administration degrees. When you see a program that interests you, simply fill out a form and an admissions representative from that school will contact you.

Get educated, get healthy and make money, when you pursue one of many challenging bachelor's degree programs in health services administration.

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