Do you want to help others but are looking for a non-patient managerial role within a medical facility? If so, consider pursuing a health services administration degree at Florida National University (FNU). FNU offers an associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degree in health services administration. This article shares what a health services administrator does and provides an overview of the degree options available at FNU.
What Does a Health Services Administrator Do?
Health services administrators manage the operations involved in a medical facility. They do not offer direct patient care but still make a difference in the health outcomes of patients. Duties depend on the environment they work in, but some of the more common responsibilities include:
Financial Management
Health services administrators manage their department’s finances to keep the facility open and help patients. They focus on assessing financial risk, budgeting for short—and long-term projects, allocating resources, reporting on financials, planning taxes, securing funding to make improvements, collaborating with medical staff to ensure fiscal responsibility, and analyzing operational processes for cost savings.
Strategic Planning
Health services administrators manage the logistics of strategic plans for healthcare facilities. They are responsible for conducting assessments of internal and external factors affecting organizational goals, analyzing industry trends in a competitive landscape, identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT), allocating resources to support strategic initiatives, assigning responsibilities, monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure progress, developing risk management strategies to mitigate uncertainty, keeping stakeholders informed of planning objectives, keeping staff informed of organizational changes, promoting teamwork and shared goals, and evaluating strategic planning and making changes as necessary.
Regulatory Compliance
Health services administrators manage regulatory compliance within medical facilities. They make sure the facilities adhere to accreditation and best practice standards. The health services administrator also creates a safe, risk-free environment by developing detailed policies that guide staff in their roles. The regulatory compliance duties that health services administer are responsible for managing data security, ensuring record retention and disposal procedures, developing emergency response plans, reporting incidents, implementing workplace safety procedures that abides by OSHA guidelines, managing accreditation surveys, and informing the medical staff about any regulatory changes that they must be aware of.
Personnel Management
Health services administrators recruit, hire, train, and supervise employees. Depending on their role, they may advertise job openings, coordinate recruitment, write job descriptions, review resumes, conduct interviews, and select candidates. They may also set compensation packages, offer new employees orientation, schedule staff, make sure the workplace is abiding by ADA guidelines, work with staff to alleviate complaints, promote an inclusive culture, motivate staff to offer the best possible health outcomes for patients, boost employee morale, choose worker compensation packages, fire employees, and make sure they adhere to labor laws and regulations within the human resources procedures.
Facility Operations
Health services administrators coordinate the day-to-day operations within medical facilities. Their duties include coordinating maintenance and upkeep, overseeing repairs and renovations, managing inventory, maintaining medical equipment, negotiating vendor contracts, developing security measures for proper protection, and conducting safety inspections.
Patient Care Coordination
Health services administrators ensure patients receive proper health care through leadership and supervision. Their responsibilities include aligning patient care goals with the facility’s mission, developing policies and procedures to coordinate patient care, properly allocating resources, optimizing staffing levels, implementing performance strategies, collaborating, and communicating with other departments, identifying and implementing risk prevention, and ensuring compliance with regulations and standards.
Do Health Services Administrator Roles Require Degrees?
Education requirements for allied health professions are based on the level of responsibility, on regulatory constraints, and on employer preferences. Depending on your career aspirations, you can choose from three-degree levels: associate, bachelor’s, and master’s. Each degree level builds upon the previous one and provides career advancement opportunities. For those health services administrator jobs that require specialized or technical knowledge, you will need additional educational training. So, which health services administration degree should you choose?
Which Health Services Administration Degree Should I Choose?
Florida National University offers three options to earn a degree in Health Services Administration. Here is an overview of each degree level:
Associate Degree in Health Services Administration
Associate degree programs take two years to complete and provide foundational knowledge for entry-level roles in health services administration. Individuals in these roles oversee daily operational duties within a healthcare facility. Job duties include, for example, administrative support, managing staff schedules, and coordinating supply orders.
The courses in the Associate Degree in Health Services Administration include:
● College Study Skills
● English Composition I & II
● Fundamentals of Oral Communication
● Humanities
● Social Sciences
● General Biology
● Basic Anatomy and Physiology
● College Algebra
● Introduction to Statistics
● Introduction to Information Technology
● Principles of Accounting I
● Introduction to Healthcare
● Medical Terminology
● Principles of Business Management
● Medical Office Management
● Medical Office Procedures
● Medical Insurance Coding and Billing
Career advancement for graduates with an associate degree is limited. However, with a higher level degree (such as the Bachelor’s Degree in Health Services Administration) and experience, you will have the opportunity to advance in your career.
Bachelor’s Degree in Health Services Administration
The Bachelor’s Degree in Health Services Administration offers a complete curriculum with hands-on training and general education courses that make you a well-rounded student. The program can be completed in four years.
A health services administrator with a bachelor’s degree oversees healthcare facilities and organizations’ day-to-day operations and management. The bachelor’s degree program curriculum includes a more comprehensive study of healthcare management, healthcare policy, finance, human resources, ethics, and leadership than that of the associate degree program. You will learn the advanced fundamentals of health services administration, including strategic planning, data analysis, quality improvement, and healthcare policy analysis. Bachelor’s degree graduates are equipped for senior or management positions.
This degree program provides skills for medical professionals seeking administrative and managerial positions. It also prepares you for the master’s degree program in Health Services Administration. Courses you will take in this program include:
● Principles of Accounting I
● Principles of Accounting I Lab.
● Managerial Accounting
● Introduction to Healthcare
● Medical Terminology
● Principles of Business Management
● Medical Office Management
● Medical Office Procedures
● Medical Insurance Coding and Billing
● Business Communications
● Financial Issues in Healthcare
● Cultural Diversity in Healthcare
● Ethics in Healthcare
● Long-Term Care Administration
● Risk Management
● Introduction to Health Services
● Community Healthcare
● Organizational Behavior
● Human Resources Management
● Healthcare Marketing
● Healthcare law
● Health Service Administration Capstone
Master’s Degree in Health Services Administration
The Master’s Degree in Health Services Administration offers law, economics, and statistics courses. This degree helps you advance in your career and take on leadership roles at a medical facility. Here are the courses included in this program:
● Applied Managerial Finance
● US Healthcare System
● Healthcare Finance
● Healthcare Law and Legislation
● Planning and Marketing in Healthcare Services Administration
● Statistics in Healthcare Management
● Management of Healthcare Organizations
● Health Information System & Electronic Health Records
● Healthcare Human Resources Management
● Healthcare Risk Management
● Managerial Epidemiology
● Health Service Administration Master’s Degree Capstone
Final Thoughts
Now that you know more about the Health Services Administration degrees at Florida National University, you can decide which one is right for you.
The Associate Degree in Health Services Administration is designed for students planning to pursue a higher-level degree in health services administration as well as to equip students with skills needed for entry-level supervisory positions in the health services field. It offers key introductory courses in health services administration and also includes a thirty-nine credit-hour component of general education/liberal arts courses.
The Bachelor’s Degree in Health Services Administration provides students with a broad view of today’s Healthcare System. The program provides the professional skills needed for administrative positions throughout the Healthcare Industry. In addition, the program prepares its graduates for admission into graduate-level studies in the Healthcare system.
The Master’s Degree in Health Services Administration provides high-quality professional education to assist executives and prepare the new generation of healthcare professionals to be part of leading positions in the healthcare industry’s administration, management, and planning in either the public or private sector.
If you are interested in being a Health Services Administrator, let Florida National University answer any questions you may have. Contact us today to learn more about our Health Services Administration programs.
