What Can You Do with a Healthcare Management Degree?

Is an Associate Healthcare Management Degree Right for Me?

Do you have an interest in healthcare and have a passion for business? Do you want to be part of an organization that positively influences the lives of people daily? If so, a healthcare management degree may be the perfect fit for you. Healthcare management professionals are an integral part of a healthcare organization – helping facilities run effectively and efficiently. Healthcare management is also an extremely in-demand career field with vast career advancement opportunities.

What Career Can I Pursue with an Associate Degree in Healthcare Management?

Earning your associate degree in healthcare management would qualify you for a variety of job opportunities, such as:

• Medical office managers – responsible for the non-clinical aspects of the day-to-day operations in a medical office environment such as ensuring regulatory compliance and promoting excellent customer care. Medical office managers may also supervise scheduling, billing, data entry, and more. Medical office managers are projected to grow 32% from 2019-2029, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• Medical billing managers – process insurance claims and manage the billing department of a physician’s office or health care facility.
• Medical records and health information technicians – organize, manage, and code health information data. Medical records and health information specialists are expected to grow 8%, much faster than the average for other occupations.
• Medical secretaries – usually the first person a patient interacts with when they arrive or call the office. A medical sectary is an important link between the patient and the physician.

Where do Healthcare Management Professionals Work?

Those within healthcare management roles may work in a variety of settings such as hospitals, doctors’ offices, nursing homes, physician practices, clinics and in public health departments – managing day-to-day operations and performing administrative tasks. With this degree, you may also work in healthcare-related industries like insurance.

Career Advancement and Growth: Healthcare Management

As with many in-demand industries, there are a wide array of opportunities for advancement in healthcare administration careers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare service managers are projected to have job growth of 18 percent through 2028, which is much faster than the average for all occupations.

Healthcare is a rapidly growth field – the entire healthcare industry is projected to add around 2.4 million new jobs from 2019 to 2029. If you are starting in the workforce or looking to change careers, a career in healthcare management may be a rewarding, stable, and fulfilling career choice.

What Are the Top Skills for Healthcare Management Professionals?

Healthcare service managers manage and organize daily functions to keep operations running smoothly for physicians, medical staff, and patients. Healthcare service managers may also oversee budgeting or scheduling, and work to optimize processes to improve patient care. That’s why the skills listed are crucial to the success of a healthcare management professional’s career:

• Communication – strong written and verbal communication skills are important in leadership positions.
• Teamwork – healthcare service managers must be able to work with all members of their staff to keep a facility running efficiently and maintain a high level of productivity.
• Problem Solving & Critical Thinking Skills – managers of healthcare facilities are in charge and must make final decisions. This is why effective, informed decision-making skills are necessary.
• Customer Billing & Budgeting Skills – having proper financial management and understanding of billing is important since this a core piece of a healthcare service manager’s job.
• Management Skills – to be an effective manager you must have strong management skills.

Healthcare Management Courses

An associate degree in healthcare management from the University of Cincinnati Online will prepare you for a career in healthcare management. Core curriculum includes:

• Healthcare Finance – will prepare you for responsibilities involved in maintaining a well-managed, financially strong health care organization.
• Fundamentals of Human Resources – introduces human resource management concepts, issues, and functions.
• Healthcare Compliance – introduces the core elements and strategies for compliance plan development, implementation, and monitoring.
• Managerial Accounting – develops foundational knowledge and skills needed to apply accounting data in planning and controlling business operations.
• Healthcare Applications – covers electronic health information systems and their design, implementation, and application.

To learn more about our Associate of Applied Business in Healthcare Management curriculum, visit our Curriculum at a Glance.

Ready to Enroll in an Online Healthcare Management Associate Degree Program?

Earn your degree on your own time, at your own pace. Our UCO staff is ready to answer your questions about the Associate Healthcare Management Technology program. You can connect online with an advisor, call our associate degree specialists’ team at 833-556-7877, or visit UC Online’s Associate of Applied Business in Healthcare Management to learn more.