What Careers are Avaiable for Those With an Online Business Degree Specializing in Healthcare Management?

If you have completed your online degree in business, specializing in healthcare management, what career paths are available to you? Much depends upon whether your degree is a bachelor’s, master’s or doctor’s degree.

Bachelor’s Degree in Business with a Healthcare Management Specialty

Because many schools don’t differentiate between healthcare management and healthcare administration, your program may have focused on managing the finances of a healthcare facility as well as the human resources. You could work as a manager in a small operation such as a rural nursing home. You might be able to obtain an entry-level position in a human resource department of a hospital, clinic or other healthcare facility, or you might work in the financial office of a hospital or health insurance company. According to “Healthcare Management careers.org,” bachelor’s degrees in healthcare management are usually seen as steps to higher degrees.

Master’s Degrees

If you have a master’s degree in business with a specialty in healthcare management, the career field is diverse. The difference between healthcare administration and healthcare management is subtle; management focuses on financial aspects and administration deals mainly with using human capital. Your first position might be as a manager or department head in the financial office of a medical facility, and you could eventually become the CFO. You might work as a marketing specialist for a private healthcare organization like a community clinic or an insurance company. You could supervise a hospital financial department. If you lean toward human resources, you might supervise the nursing department of a hospital, or you could work with many departments, overseeing things like staffing and scheduling as well as compensation and benefits. You might work for the government, managing the cost-effectiveness of public healthcare services, or making sure facilities comply with federal regulations. With your master’s degree, you will work at executive or managerial level coordinating either monetary or human capital. Plus, new positions have opened in the field of informatics, or managing information systems, in the lens of the Healthcare industry.

Doctor’s Degrees

CEOs and presidents of healthcare facilities and organizations as well as health insurance companies usually hold doctoral degrees in business with a specialty in healthcare management. These professionals often work for companies within the healthcare industry that gross millions of dollars to well over a billion dollars a year.

What Salaries Can I Earn

Of course, the salary you earn at any position depends upon your experience and education, but it also could be affected by whether the organization that employs you is private or publically owned. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says healthcare managers could expect to make a median salary of $88,580 in 2012. If the manager is at an entry level, or working in a small organization, that salary may be considerably smaller. Median salary for CEOs and CFOs was $101,650.

The employment arena for people with degrees in business with a specialty in healthcare management is wide. Dependent upon your experience and education, the degree can lead to a highly-compensated and exciting career in the healthcare industry.