11 Must-Have Skills You Need as a Healthcare Administrator
The healthcare field is one of the industries that have the highest rate of job satisfaction. In addition, limitless career opportunities and highly in-demand occupations help this industry grow much faster than the average for all other industries. However, it is understandable that the thought of direct contact with blood, germs, and other potentially unpleasant aspects involving natural patient care is not everyone's cup of tea. Fortunately for you, that is where healthcare management services come to play.
As claimed by the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the number of medical and health services managers is predicted to increase by 32 percent from 2020 to 2030.
On average, 51,800 openings for medical and health services managers are projected each year over the decade. The job openings may come from the need to replace workers either because they advance their nursing career or retire.
In addition, the median annual wage for medical and health services managers was $104,280 in May 2020. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $59,980, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $195,630.
If you want to learn more about this field of the medical industry and the skills needed to be a healthcare administrator, then keep on reading!
What is a healthcare administrator?
Healthcare administrators are medical professionals responsible for directing, planning, and coordinating medical and health services, programs, staff, and budgets of hospitals, health systems, and other organizations.
Typically, healthcare administrators are engaged in hospitals, physician group practices, nursing homes, home health agencies, pharmaceutical companies, insurance providers, or consulting firms.
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11 Must-Have Healthcare Administration Skills
Though becoming a healthcare administrator requires various job-specific abilities, you are most likely to possess already many of the soft skills necessary for the position. This guide will explain some of the top healthcare administration skills a medical professional should have and how they are applied to this position.
Analytical skills
It is not enough for a healthcare administrator to maintain the status quo in order to achieve great success. Successful healthcare managers look to the future, using their analytical skills to evaluate current processes and identify areas for development. When it comes to healthcare management, analytical skills refer to the capacity to comprehend data, transform it into a clear-cut analysis, and derive insights from changes, trends, distribution, and outliers.
Problem-solving
Healthcare administrators are required to have very well-developed problem-solving skills. Emergency scenarios will inevitably arise, whether it's a medical emergency, a clinical issue, or an organizational conflict. These circumstances require innovative ideas, positive thinking, and the ability to respond quickly.
The best administrators should be able to sense when something is about to go wrong even before the crisis happens. This allows them to start discussing solutions and minimizing harm sooner and faster.
Critical thinking
Successful healthcare administrators must be able to solve a wide range of issues. They must maintain their facilities in accordance with the most current healthcare rules imposed by local, state, and federal governments. Despite nursing shortages, staffing issues, and low team member morale, they should manage their healthcare facilities perfectly. Above all, healthcare administrators must be skilled problem solvers who can think critically and logically.
Communication skills
It is no surprise to say that communication is a must-have skill for almost any industry. Communication is among the essential healthcare administration skills as it happens daily but is particularly important when explaining policies, procedures, and regulations to staff.
Whether this communication is performed via email, phone or face-to-face, it's essential for healthcare administrators to be articulate and transparent in their expectations. Therefore, healthcare administrators need to be self-aware and mindful of what they're saying and how they deliver their message.
Leadership skills
Being an effective leader entails more than just giving orders, and it's all about being able to persuade employees to make changes properly. Decision-making, strategic planning, and team-building are all aspects of leadership.
Healthcare-specific leadership is vital because it focuses on patient-centered care and leading high-demand experts in a competitive environment. The healthcare system is highly complicated, and more than other sectors, it requires achieving consensus among many groups. Transformation (starting a change process), execution (translating vision to performance), and people (staff and patients) should be the focus of healthcare leadership.
Collaboration skills
Patients, medical professionals, nurses, families, emergency service workers, insurance companies, and government regulators are among people healthcare administrators must engage weekly. Because the position entails directing competent professionals as well as explaining and implementing complex treatments and hospital procedures, teamwork is necessary.
Administrators in hospitals are expected to look out for patients, staff, and the hospital's best interests while putting their own worries to the side.
Technical skills
Administrators of this field need to possess a variety of technical skills in healthcare management, including software and typing. Their daily work operations may need to know about electronic records systems and general desktop software. They should also be acquainted with the safe and proper use of advanced medical equipment.
Business administration and operations
While a clinic or hospital may not be the first example that comes to mind when someone mentions a business, it is a fact that healthcare administrators must have a thorough understanding of business principles to be effective. The knowledge of business operations is among the top skills needed to be a healthcare administrator.
Healthcare administrators are frequently in charge of ensuring that the firm accomplishes its financial and productivity objectives to remain competitive in the rapidly expanding healthcare sector. This demands strategic planning, business expertise, and leadership abilities.
Patient care
Though administrative and financial skills are crucial, a healthcare administrator requires a thorough understanding of patient care. Healthcare administrators must take a holistic approach to enhance patient care, accounting for every aspect of the patient's overall experience, whether it is scheduling an appointment with the reception or parking at the hospital or clinic.
In addition, the most vigorous healthcare administrators are also familiar with the fundamentals of injuries, illnesses, diseases, their symptoms, and treatments and prevention strategies.
Data analysis
Data analysis is required in the healthcare business to develop efficient ways to maximize current healthcare data for more accurate diagnosis and treatment. This does not mean that administrators must be capable of building machine-learning algorithms, but they must be able to gather and understand data in order to make accurate conclusions.
Because modern healthcare facilities rely extensively on electronic patient record systems, there is a lot of information to be collected, analyzed, and applied to improve clinical efficiency.
Budgeting
One of the most critical responsibilities of medical office administrators is to ensure that the office is fully stocked with all necessary supplies, from printer paper to surgical instruments. This also implies that the office administrator must be able to handle purchases while sticking to a budget. Such responsibility entails combining solid organizational and financial skills to guarantee that the office does not overspend while providing doctors and nurses with the resources they require to assist patients.
Quality assurance and control
Quality assurance is the effort done to guarantee that standards are met. Healthcare administrators are in charge of establishing these guidelines and intervening when they are not fulfilled.
Administrators can use methods like patient comment cards and online reviews to get feedback. That's how healthcare administrators create an accountability culture that relies on trusted employees to detect and handle concerns before they escalate into more significant difficulties.
Legal knowledge
Hospital health rules, legal difficulties, and attorneys occupy most of the work of healthcare administrators. Every administrative choice made daily or long-term could have legal ramifications for physicians, employees, patients, and the hospital. To avoid litigation, charges, and penalties, administrators must have the legal knowledge as they gather and assess information, preserve patient privacy, and adhere to regulatory regulations.
Recap
In conclusion, a passionate medical professional wanting to become part of the healthcare administration system should master a set of crucial skills to succeed in this field. Perfecting the healthcare administration skills, such as analytical, communication, leadership, collaboration, and technical skills, will ensure a better experience for you, the medical staff, and the patient.