Medical and Health Services Managers

Summary

medical and health services managers image
Medical and health services managers plan, direct, and coordinate the delivery of healthcare.
Quick Facts: Medical and Health Services Managers
2020 Median Pay $qf_median_annual_wage_html $qf_median_hourly_wage_html
Typical Entry-Level Education $qf_education_html
Work Experience in a Related Occupation $qf_experience_html
On-the-job Training $qf_training_html
Number of Jobs, 2020 $qf_number_jobs_html
Job Outlook, 2020-30 $qf_outlook_html
Employment Change, 2020-30 $qf_openings_html

What Medical and Health Services Managers Do

Medical and health services managers plan, direct, and coordinate the business activities of healthcare providers.

Work Environment

Most medical and health services managers work in offices in healthcare facilities, including hospitals and nursing homes, and group medical practices.

How to Become a Medical or Health Services Manager

Most medical and health services managers have at least a bachelor’s degree before entering the field; however, master’s degrees also are common. Prospective managers typically have some work experience in an administrative or a clinical role in a hospital or other healthcare facility.

Pay

Job Outlook

Overall employment of medical and health services managers is projected to grow $pc.toString().replaceAll("^\-","") percent from 2020 to 2030, $gra.

About $tools.number.format('#,###',$op) openings for medical and health services managers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.

State & Area Data

Explore resources for employment and wages by state and area for medical and health services managers.

Similar Occupations

Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of medical and health services managers with similar occupations.

More Information, Including Links to O*NET

Learn more about medical and health services managers by visiting additional resources, including O*NET, a source on key characteristics of workers and occupations.

What Medical and Health Services Managers Do

Medical and health services managers
In group medical practices, medical and health services managers work closely with physicians.

Medical and health services managers, also called healthcare executives or healthcare administrators, plan, direct, and coordinate medical and health services. They may manage an entire facility, a specific clinical area or department, or a medical practice for a group of physicians. Medical and health services managers must adapt to changes in healthcare laws, regulations, and technology.

Duties

Medical and health services managers typically do the following:

  • Improve efficiency and quality in delivering healthcare services
  • Develop departmental goals and objectives
  • Ensure that the facility in which they work is up to date on and compliant with laws and regulations
  • Recruit, train, and supervise staff members
  • Manage the finances of the facility, such as patient fees and billing
  • Create work schedules
  • Prepare and monitor budgets and spending to ensure departments operate within funding limits
  • Represent the facility at investor meetings or on governing boards
  • Keep and organize records of the facility’s services, such as the number of inpatient beds used
  • Communicate with members of the medical staff and department heads

Medical and health services managers work closely with physicians and surgeons, registered nurses, medical and clinical laboratory technologists and technicians, and other healthcare workers. Others may interact with patients or insurance agents.

Medical and health services managers’ titles depend on the facility or area of expertise in which they work. 

The following are examples of types of medical and health services managers:

Nursing home administrators manage staff, admissions, finances, and care of the building, as well as care of the residents in nursing homes. All states require licensure for nursing home administrators; licensing requirements vary by state.

Clinical managers oversee a specific department, such as nursing, surgery, or physical therapy, and have responsibilities based on that specialty. Clinical managers set and carry out policies, goals, and procedures for their departments; evaluate the quality of the staff’s work; and develop reports and budgets.

Health information managers are responsible for the maintenance and security of all patient records and data. They must stay up to date with evolving information technology, current or proposed laws about health information systems, and trends in managing large amounts of complex data. Health information managers must ensure that databases are complete, accurate, and accessible only to authorized personnel. They also may supervise the work of medical records and health information technicians.

Work Environment

Medical and health services managers
Some medical and health services managers oversee the activities of a number of facilities.

Most medical and health services managers work in offices.

Work Schedules

Most medical and health services managers work full time. Some managers work more than 40 hours per week. Work during evenings or weekends may be required in healthcare settings that are open at all hours, such as hospitals and nursing homes. Medical and health services managers may need to be on call in case of emergencies.

How to Become a Medical or Health Services Manager

Medical and health services managers
Medical and health services managers must effectively communicate policies and procedures with other health professionals.

Most medical and health services managers have at least a bachelor’s degree before entering the field. However, master’s degrees are common and sometimes preferred by employers. Educational requirements vary by facility and specific function.

Education

Medical and health services managers typically need at least a bachelor’s degree to enter the occupation. However, master’s degrees are common and sometimes preferred by employers. Graduate programs often last between 2 and 3 years and may include up to 1 year of supervised administrative experience in a hospital or healthcare consulting setting.

Prospective medical and health services managers typically have a degree in health administration, health management, nursing, public health administration, or business administration. Degrees that focus on both management and healthcare combine business-related courses with courses in medical terminology, hospital organization, and health information systems. For example, a degree in health administration or health information management often includes courses in health services management, accounting and budgeting, human resources administration, strategic planning, law and ethics, health economics, and health information systems.

Work Experience in a Related Occupation

Many employers require prospective medical and health services managers to have some work experience in either an administrative or a clinical role in a hospital or other healthcare facility. For example, nursing home administrators usually have years of experience working as a registered nurse.

Others may begin their careers as medical records and health information technicians, administrative assistants, or financial clerks within a healthcare office.

Important Qualities

Analytical skills. Medical and health services managers must understand and follow current regulations and adapt to new laws.

Communication skills. These managers must effectively communicate policies and procedures to other health professionals and ensure their staff’s compliance with new laws and regulations.

Detail oriented. Medical and health services managers must pay attention to detail. They might be required to organize and maintain scheduling and billing information for very large facilities, such as hospitals.

Interpersonal skills. Medical and health services managers discuss staffing problems and patient information with other professionals, such as physicians and health insurance representatives.

Leadership skills. These managers are often responsible for finding creative solutions to staffing or other administrative problems. They must hire, train, motivate, and lead staff.

Technical skills. Medical and health services managers must stay up to date with advances in healthcare technology and data analytics. For example, they may need to use coding and classification software and electronic health record (EHR) systems as their facility adopts these technologies.

Licenses, Certifications, and Registrations

All states require licensure for nursing home administrators; requirements vary by state. In most states, these administrators must have a bachelor’s degree, complete a state-approved training program, and pass a national licensing exam. Some states also require applicants to pass a state-specific exam; others may require applicants to have previous work experience in a healthcare facility. Some states also require licensure for administrators in assisted-living facilities. For information on specific state-by-state licensure requirements, visit the National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards.

A license is typically not required in other areas of medical and health services management. However, some positions may require applicants to have a registered nurse or social worker license.

Although certification is not required, some managers choose to become certified. Certification is available in many areas of practice. For example, the Professional Association of Health Care Office Management offers certification in medical management, the American Health Information Management Association offers health information management certification, and the American College of Health Care Administrators offers the Certified Nursing Home Administrator and Certified Assisted Living Administrator distinctions.

Advancement

Medical and health services managers advance by moving into higher paying positions with more responsibility. Some health information managers, for example, can advance to become responsible for the entire hospital’s information systems. Other managers may advance to top executive positions within the organization. Advancement to top level executive positions usually requires a master’s degree.

Pay

Medical and Health Services Managers

Median annual wages, May 2020

Medical and health services managers

$104,280

Other management occupations

$95,180

Total, all occupations

$41,950

 

Most medical and health services managers work full time. Some managers work more than 40 hours per week. Work during evenings or weekends may be required in healthcare settings such as hospitals and nursing homes, which are open at all hours. Medical and health services managers may need to be on call in case of emergencies.

Job Outlook

Medical and Health Services Managers

Percent change in employment, projected 2020-30

Medical and health services managers

32%

Other management occupations

9%

Total, all occupations

8%

 

Overall employment of medical and health services managers is projected to grow $pc.toString().replaceAll("^\-","") percent from 2020 to 2030, $gra.

About $tools.number.format('#,###',$op) openings for medical and health services managers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.

Employment

Employment of medical and health services managers is projected to grow 18 percent from 2018 to 2028, much faster than the average for all occupations. As the large baby-boom population ages and people remain active later in life, there should be increased demand for healthcare services.

This means greater needs for physicians and other healthcare workers, medical procedures, and healthcare facilities, and therefore greater needs for managers who organize and manage medical information and healthcare staff. There should also be increased demand for nursing care facility administrators as the population grows older.

Employment is projected to grow in offices of health practitioners. Many services previously provided in hospitals will shift to these settings, especially as medical technologies improve. Demand in medical group practice management is projected to grow as medical group practices become larger and more complex.

In addition, widespread use of electronic health records (EHRs) will continue to create demand for managers with knowledge of health information technology (IT) and informatics systems. Medical and health services managers will be needed to organize, manage, and integrate these records across areas of the healthcare industry.

Job Prospects

Job prospects for medical and health services managers are likely to be favorable. In addition to rising employment demand, the need to replace managers who retire over the next decade will result in some openings. Candidates with a master’s degree in health administration or a related field, as well as knowledge of healthcare IT systems, will likely have the best prospects.

Employment projections data for medical and health services managers, 2020-30
Occupational Title SOC Code Employment, 2020 Projected Employment, 2030 Change, 2020-30 Employment by Industry
Percent Numeric

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program

Medical and health services managers

11-9111 429,800 569,400 32 139,600 Get data

State & Area Data

Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program produces employment and wage estimates annually for over 800 occupations. These estimates are available for the nation as a whole, for individual states, and for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas.

Projections Central

Occupational employment projections are developed for all states by Labor Market Information (LMI) or individual state Employment Projections offices. All state projections data are available at www.projectionscentral.com. Information on this site allows projected employment growth for an occupation to be compared among states or to be compared within one state. In addition, states may produce projections for areas; there are links to each state’s websites where these data may be retrieved.

CareerOneStop

CareerOneStop includes hundreds of occupational profiles with data available by state and metro area. There are links in the left-hand side menu to compare occupational employment by state and occupational wages by local area or metro area. There is also a salary info tool to search for wages by zip code.

Similar Occupations

This table shows a list of occupations with job duties that are similar to those of medical and health services managers.

Occupation Job Duties ENTRY-LEVEL EDUCATION 2020 MEDIAN PAY
Administrative services managers Administrative Services Managers

Administrative services managers plan, direct, and coordinate supportive services of an organization.

$qf_education_html $qf_median_annual_wage_html
Computer and information systems managers Computer and Information Systems Managers

Computer and information systems managers plan, coordinate, and direct computer-related activities in an organization.

$qf_education_html $qf_median_annual_wage_html
Financial managers Financial Managers

Financial managers produce financial reports, direct investment activities, and develop strategies and plans for the long-term financial goals of their organization.

$qf_education_html $qf_median_annual_wage_html
Human resources managers Human Resources Managers

Human resources managers plan, direct, and coordinate the administrative functions of an organization.

$qf_education_html $qf_median_annual_wage_html
Insurance underwriters Insurance Underwriters

Insurance underwriters evaluate insurance applications and decide whether to provide insurance, and under what terms.

$qf_education_html $qf_median_annual_wage_html
Medical records and health information technicians Medical Records and Health Information Technicians

Medical records and health information technicians organize and manage health information data.

$qf_education_html $qf_median_annual_wage_html
Social and community service managers Social and Community Service Managers

Social and community service managers coordinate and supervise social service programs and community organizations.

$qf_education_html $qf_median_annual_wage_html
Top executives Top Executives

Top executives devise strategies and policies to ensure that an organization meets its goals.

$qf_education_html $qf_median_annual_wage_html
Purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents Purchasing Managers, Buyers, and Purchasing Agents

Buyers and purchasing agents buy products and services for organizations. Purchasing managers oversee the work of buyers and purchasing agents.

$qf_education_html $qf_median_annual_wage_html

Contacts for More Information

For more information about medical and healthcare management, visit

Professional Association of Health Care Office Management

American Health Information Management Association

American College of Health Care Administrators

For more information about academic programs in this field, visit

Association of University Programs in Health Administration

Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education

For information about career opportunities in healthcare management, visit

American College of Healthcare Executives

For information about career opportunities in medical group practices and ambulatory care management, visit

Medical Group Management Association

For more information about licensure and training requirements for nursing home and assisted-living facility administrators, visit

National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards

Suggested citation:

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Medical and Health Services Managers,
at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/medical-and-health-services-managers.htm (visited November 08, 2024).

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, September 4, 2019