What is Healthcare Management?
California is one of our biggest states, by both geographical size and economic volume. In fact, California is the nation’s largest economy, dwarfing the economies of many small countries. As the popular saying goes, California is kind of a big deal.
Since most of us associate California with sunny beaches, surfers, and big cities like LA and San Francisco, it's no wonder that its economy is led by real estate. The state's real estate sector brings in a whopping $500 billion in revenue and leads the nation. It would seem that everyone is clamoring to get close to those sunny shores, to live in Silicon Valley, or perhaps to luxuriate in the cool fog of the San Francisco Bay. The California economy is more than excellent real estate, however.
Professional and business services come in at #2 in the state's economy. This sector brings in close to $400 billion and also leads the nation. For perspective, the #2 leader in this sector is New York, with less than $250 billion in revenue. In fact, California leads the nation in all its top sectors. Their #3 economic spot is taken by manufacturing, which is then followed by information and the 5th top industry, social services, which includes healthcare and education.
It's easy to see that healthcare management is a major part of the Californian economic landscape. Every clinic, private practice, and major healthcare system needs managers and others in health administration to ensure smooth and efficient operations. These healthcare systems thus need a supportive health management education system that produces knowledgeable, skilled professionals who can enter and lead the industry. To answer the call, California's colleges and universities seek out the very best faculty members possible.
A healthcare manager is a professional who has been specifically trained to work in the healthcare arena. Healthcare managers are in a special industry that has not only a particular breed of worker but is also governed by particular laws. The industry works with unique financial structures in that healthcare systems are often non-profit, receive funding from insurers, and may also bill services to government agencies.
Healthcare managers, like those in other sectors, tend to focus on particular parts of their industry. Some may be operations managers at the clinic level, while others oversee sprawling hospital complexes. They also manage human resources, information technology, and even marketing departments. Many healthcare managers enter their administrative roles from the clinical side, but many others enter as graduates of health services administration degree programs from one of California's excellent colleges and universities. Note that healthcare managers who come from a clinical role tend to remain in the clinical environment unless they receive additional training to work elsewhere in the healthcare system.
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