The Healthcare Administration MBA is one of the most popular MBA concentrations around. It equips students with the skills and knowledge they need to take on administrative, non-clinical roles within any healthcare setting, although most often in hospitals and large clinics.
Generally speaking, completing this degree means you will have engaged in both theoretical classroom experiences and hands on learning experiences, focusing on healthcare economics, population health, marketing, governance, and more. As a graduate, you will understand the various management issues involving healthcare. The degree is more varied than the Master of Public Health Administration, which essentially prepares you for a position for federal government, or the general Master of Business Administration, which prepares you for a position within the private sector.
Why Earn a Healthcare Administration MBA?
When you earn a healthcare administration MBA, you will experience a number of key benefits:
1. You will be able to take on a position in an ever expanding field of work with a lot of growth potential and fantastic job security.
2. You will be able to apply the skills and knowledge that you earned during your bachelor’s degree in a unique way. There is no prerequisite for the field of study you followed at undergraduate level, which means each student will bring his or her own, unique perspective.
3. You will have a far higher earning potential. In fact, those with a Healthcare Administration MBA have been found to earn more than those with solely a Master in Healthcare Administration, possibly because of the greater number of transferable skills.
4. You will have excellent transferable managerial skills, which means you can leave the healthcare industry should you lose interest in it.
Admission Requirements
Each school has its own admissions criteria, but those required by the Loma Linda University School of Public Health are quite representative of other schools. They include:
• An undergraduate degree from an accredited institution
• A GPA of 3.0 minimum
• GMAT/GRE test
• Three letters of recommendation
• Prerequisite courses
Curriculum and Courses
Each school sets its own admissions criteria, and also its own curriculum. This demonstrates the importance of completing an accredited degree from an accredited institution, as this provides you with the guarantee that you will meet certain accepted educational quality standards. The curriculum offered by the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business gives a good representation of what to expect:
• Business of biology
• Comprehensive healthcare strategies
• Healthcare markets and public policies
• Healthcare public policy residential
• Commercialization of biomedicine strategy
• Healthcare strategy
• Innovations in global health policy delivery
• Introduction to health informatics
• Managing health informatics
• Public health in developing countries
• Health economics and public policy
• Public policy approaches to social disparities in health
• Healthcare fraud and abuse
• Health law and policy
• FDA law
• Survey of the US healthcare system
• Cost effectiveness analysis in health
• Managing people in health organizations
• Empirical methods for health informatics
• Law and public health
• The politics of public health policy
• Introduction to social welfare policies and services
• Healthcare policies and services
• Mental health policies and services
• Policies an services for older adults
• Strategy for nursing and healthcare
• Human resources
• Quality and operations management
• Innovation and change
What this particular curriculum shows is just how wide the field of healthcare administration and business is. This is also due to the fact that the healthcare system is constantly changing and evolving, due on the one hand to the changing needs of the population and, on the other hand, the changing laws and regulations instilled by the federal government. The reason why Healthcare Administration MBA graduates are in such high demand is because they have extensive understanding of all these issues, while at the same time having the required skills and knowledge to manage this entire system.
Career Outcomes and Job Titles
Once you complete your healthcare administration MBA degree, many different employment possibilities will open up to you. However, some of the most popular ones include:
• Hospital administrator
• Talent acquisition consultant
• Oncology coordinator
• Revenue management analyst
• Physician relations liaison
• Sourcing executive
• Pharmaceutical project manager
• Practice manager
• Hospital CEO
• Health provider IT associate
• Field strategist
• Hospital CFO
• Operations planner
• Portfolio manager
• Executive compensation consultant
• Ambulatory project manager
• Entrepreneur
• Policy researcher
• Healthcare business consultant
• Health policy analyst
• Health information manager
What this demonstrates is the wealth and breadth of positions that could be available to you with a healthcare administration MBA. Some of these positions go outside of the realm of the healthcare industry, such as the position of entrepreneur. That is the beauty of the MBA degree, which teaches you the fundamental business skills required to become a true leader in any field you are interested in.
Job Salary & Outlook
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported that all medical and health services managers earned an average annual salary of $94,500 per year as of May 2015, at bachelor’s degree level. Obtaining an MBA increases annual salaries by $15,000 per year on average, meaning that you could earn a six figure salary with this degree. The BLS has also reported that there will be a 17% increase in demand for these professionals by 2024, which is much faster than the national average.
Scholarships and Grants
• The University of Colorado Denver – Business School offers a number of scholarships for students enrolling in their programs, one of which is specifically for an MBA in Healthcare Administration.
• The Tylenol Scholarship, which is an award of between $1,000 and $10,000 offered to those who want to enter the healthcare graduate world.
• The American Association of University Women Career Development Grant, which offers female students the opportunity to complete a healthcare degree at business management and administration level, in order to increase female representation in these types of positions.
• The Pfizer Grants, which is a collection of grants and scholarships offered to those wanting to enter the world of healthcare.
• The David A. Winston Health Policy Scholarship, which gives ten students the opportunity to receive $10,000 each to those experienced in working at federal or state government level. Attendance at a seminar for healthcare administration professionals is also required.
Additional Resources
Association for Healthcare Administrative Professionals (AHCAP)
Health Care Organization and Administration
American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management (AAHAM)
Healthcare Administrators Association
Management Matters: The link between hospital organisation and quality of patient care.
