What is Healthcare Administration?
Healthcare administrators manage health services in hospitals, health systems, and other types of health organizations. In addition to managing facilities, services, programs, staff, budgets, and relations with other organizations, their responsibilities also depend on the size and type of the organization.
An understanding of medical terminology, professional skills and the way patient care organizations operate are key competencies required. Knowledge of health care delivery and financial structures is also crucial.
Healthcare administration jobs are in high demand right now, and the state of Ohio is no exception. In 2020, The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services showed that the average salary among healthcare administrators was around $106,670. The starting salary ranged between $57,310 and $73,140 per year.
Featured Online Programs
Healthcare Administration Education in Ohio
Online Bachelors (BS or BSHCA)
If you are new to the healthcare profession and your goal is to work in the capacity of healthcare administrator, you should start by obtaining a bachelor’s degree such as the BHA (Bachelor of Health Administration), BSHA (Bachelor of Science in Health Administration, or the BSHSA (Bachelor of Science in Health Services Administration).
Most of the bachelor’s degrees in healthcare administration require 60 semester credit hours in general courses and pre-major prerequisites. The other 60 hours are composed of more concentrated on the healthcare major.
Topics of study in the undergraduate degree include the following:
- Healthcare data analysis
- Healthcare resources, consumers, and payers
- Principles of management, leadership, accounting, and advertising
- Legal issues in the healthcare business environment
The Bachelor's degree in one of these key areas is the minimum requirement that is needed to work as a healthcare administrator in Ohio.
Find Your Online Healthcare Administration Program
Online Masters (MS or MHA)
If you truly want to succeed in this field of healthcare administration, you will need to pursue a graduate degree from an accredited university or college in this field. It's a good idea to get some clinical work experience after completion of the Bachelor's degree. But the Master's degree would ensure that you obtain a higher level of expertise and training in the important areas of study that you will encounter on a daily basis in this field.
Below is a rundown of the types of master's degrees you can pursue in healthcare administration.
- MHA/MBA dual degree program
- Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA)
- MSN/MBA dual degree program
- JD/MSHA dual degree program
- Master of Science in Healthcare Administration (MSHA)
Any of these degrees are perfectly acceptable in most hospitals, long-term care facilities, and mental health institutions, as well as other healthcare facilities in the state of Ohio. Additionally, if your background is more in line with the business world, you may pursue the M.B.A. (Master of Business Administration) and add the appropriate healthcare courses as needed to fulfill the requirements.
Graduate programs vary between 30-60 semester hours that will take an average of 12-24 months to complete.
Graduate Coursework in HCA
The courses required for the master’s degrees in healthcare administration focus on the following course requirements:
- Strategy for management of large healthcare organizations
- Management, marketing, and forecasting for healthcare organizations
- Quantitative methods for evaluating healthcare organizations
- Global economics for healthcare managers
- Medical and healthcare informatics
Other course requirements focus on healthcare policy and law, compliance, and health economics. Once you have completed the graduation requirements, you will have a commercial portfolio of skills that you can use to promote yourself when you are looking for your first job in the healthcare administration field.
Careers and Salary Outlook
Salary and Earnings Potential
The top-level administrators of healthcare facilities in Ohio were earning around $168,950 per year. The number of jobs in the healthcare administration field is expected to increase by up to 32 percent within the ten-year period leading up to the year 2030. This is a lucrative career that many people pursue the financial (as well as the humanitarian) rewards that they can obtain by working in this demanding and challenging environment.
This positive outlook for salaries and job opportunities in the healthcare administration field gives people a new reason to pursue this lucrative and rewarding career path. People who love to be a part of the healthcare industry in a way that can foster serious change are attracted to this career because they feel that their work will have a bigger impact on the future of healthcare than it would if they stayed in a nursing or doctor's role alone.
Not everyone who pursues a career in healthcare administration is a doctor or nurse, but his background certainly goes a long way if you are already working in the field. Then it becomes more of a vertical move upwards rather than an entire change of careers.
If you live in Ohio, you are in the right place to pursue this career choice. Statistics show that Ohio has the fourth-highest level of job employment for medical and healthcare administrative positions in the nation. (U.S. Department of Labor)
The main impetus that is increasing the need for healthcare administration jobs is the fact that around 16% of the state's population is composed of 65+ adults. This has increased the need for more healthcare workers on every level, including the demand for administrators in the field to run the facilities and coordinated efforts.
Career Options
The job outlook is good for the area of healthcare administration for the state of Ohio. As evidence of this fact, check out these sample job titles and descriptions:
- Adjunct Instructor of Health Services Administration
They are looking for someone to serve as an instructor for health-related courses and to help with the healthcare needs of the university. - Administrative Coordinator
There is also an opening for Administrative Coordinator in Columbus, Ohio. This job requires a strong sense of administrative ability and the ability to communicate with a variety of different people on a daily basis.
Search Online Programs Offering Healthcare Administration Majors
Additional Helpful Resources
Prominent Employers in Ohio
The largest employers of health administration professionals in Ohio includes universities for instruction purposes, clinic coordinators, nurse managers and hospital executives. Due to a large number of new hospitals and other types of medical facilities in the state, there will be an increased need for healthcare administration shortly.
Many colleges and universities offer job boards so that their students in healthcare administration can keep up with the job trends and apply for the jobs they like when they are getting ready to put their resumes together for the job world.
Health Administration Associations
The Ohio Association of Healthcare Quality is dedicated to improving the healthcare industry in the state of Ohio. If you go into healthcare administration, you may want to look into this organization. The OHCA (Ohio Health Care Association) is an organization that represents hundreds of nurses and medical experts and professionals and serves as a portal of valuable information for healthcare professionals on all levels in the state of Ohio. (See links below).
Steps to Become a Healthcare Administrator
The healthcare administration option is not for everyone. But for people who enjoy helping people to deliver better healthcare services in a variety of contexts and facilities, you may find this position to be agreeable to your career goals.
Healthcare administrators work in a variety of facilities and hospitals, including long term healthcare facilities and clinics, university clinics an settings, and many other scenarios. Anywhere in Ohio, that deals with healthcare delivery is a possible prospect for work opportunities in the state of Ohio.
To get started on your career in healthcare administration, you'll want to follow the following steps:
- Get an undergraduate degree in a healthcare-related field such as the BHA (Bachelor of Health Administration), BSHA (Bachelor of Science in Health Administration), or other areas. It doesn't matter which route you take on your undergraduate degree as they will all qualify you to work in this field. But you may want to investigate what types of coursework are in each one to see which one more closely aligns with your personal career goals.
- Apply for a job in a local hospital, clinic, or another healthcare facility. This will give you the entry-level experience you need to pursue your healthcare career goals. By getting some basic experience in healthcare applications, you'll be able to increase your job potential and market yourself as a healthcare administrator.
- Return to school to get your graduate level degree. By furthering your education in the healthcare administration field, you'll get a higher level of education and training that will continue to increase your choices within your chosen career. The graduate programs in most Ohio schools and colleges provide high-level opportunities for advancement and practical experience that will enable you to continue to improve your knowledge level in this lucrative and rewarding career choice.
- Create a portfolio of work and school experiences that you have done. This portfolio will help you to open many doors in the healthcare job force and allow you to illustrate your credibility as a healthcare professional to potential career prospects.
Get a job in a healthcare facility and work up to the position of the healthcare administrator. Many hospitals and healthcare facilities give preference to staff members such as nurses and doctors who are already currently employed at the facility. If you get some entry-level experience in a facility, you may have a better chance of working up to the top positions of the organization as you continue to prove yourself with your daily work and perseverance.
One thing that will increase your chances to get the best job after graduation in this field is to connect with others in the healthcare field such as doctors, nurses, and technicians. Social media is a great place to meet others in this field, and you can join online job boards that show the types of careers that are available as they are posted. Keeping up with the trends and the needs is a key to success. You may even be able to work in a clinic or other setting part-time while you are completing your degree requirements.
Getting Started
To get started with your career in healthcare administration, take an inventory of your current education and skills and develop a plan of attack to complete the requirements that we have outlined in this post.
Starting with the undergraduate degree, you can gradually collect some credits and experiences that will help you make yourself more marketable to the healthcare industry. If you have always wanted to be a bigger part of the delivery and application of better healthcare in the state of Ohio, there's no better time than today to get started.
Begin with a search for schools that offer coursework for the bachelor’s or master's degrees in the area of healthcare administration and get started on your new career today!
Search All Programs