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Earning a Healthcare Administration Degree Online
Earning your healthcare administration degree online is an exciting opportunity for those who enjoy helping others and may want to enter the healthcare management field.i
A healthcare administration degree is a bachelors, masters, or doctorate degree that applies business and management principles to the healthcare industry. Healthcare administration teaches the stategy, leadership, and analytical tools used by medical and health service managers in the field. With a healthcare administration degree, medical service managers earn up to $104,340 annually.
Technology, as well as a baby boomer generation that may try to remain active as they age, may create a greater need for medical and health service managers at nursing home, health practitioner offices, and in medical group practices.ii Earning your healthcare management degree online may be the perfect opportunity for you to break into the healthcare industry. Click on any of the sponsored listings on this page to learn more about individual healthcare administration degree online programs.
Did You Know?
According to an HHS data report, nearly $4.1 billion in costs have been saved by hospitals’ improvements in patient safety.
Different Healthcare Administration Degree Online Programs
While earning your online healthcare management degree, courses and topics focus on providing you with business and management knowledge and how they relate to the healthcare field in particular. These business and management courses may include leadership and ethics, human resources, finance, and organization and management for healthcare.
When choosing the perfect school to earn your healthcare administration online degree, it’s important to remember that there are a wide variety of names that the degree may fall under. Just scanning the list of sponsored listings on this page will reveal some of these. Different degree types and names may include:
- MBA Healthcare Management / Administration Concentration
- Master of Health Administration
- MBA – Healthcare Management
- Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management
- Master of Science in Healthcare Administration
- Bachelor of Business Administration in Healthcare Management
- Bachelor of Science in Health Systems Management
- Doctor of Health Administration
- Doctor of Strategic Leadership – Healthcare Leadership
- Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration – Healthcare Administration
Bachelors in Healthcare Administration
Most medical and health service managers—one of the most common career choices for those who earn an healthcare administration and management degree online—have a bachelors degree.ii By combining courses in liberal arts, business, management, and healthcare, students may learn the unique challenges facing the healthcare field as technology continues to change the techniques, procedures, and requirements by healthcare administrators and managers. Earning a bachelors in healthcare administration degree online may provide the education necessary to enter into the healthcare management industry.
Masters in Healthcare Administration
Online healthcare administration masters degree programs are designed to provide students with the skills and knowledge to be leaders in the healthcare field. That may include using and leveraging technology to maximize performance and procedures in the healthcare industry, which is why it may be beneficial to earn your degree online. This type of technological learning may include web-based instruction, direct readings, and chat room interactions.
As most medical and health service managers have a bachelors degree, some employers are choosing to hire those with a graduate degree or higher. This is making masters degrees, such as online mha programs more common in the field.iii
Doctorates in Healthcare Administration
When earning your doctorates in healthcare administration degree, most programs focus on providing you with advanced research and coursework so that graduates are experts in this field. This may help prepare students to apply theories into real-world practice to influence healthcare administrative systems. By combining business and management courses with a specific focus on the healthcare field, online doctorate programs may provide working professionals with advanced insights into healthcare strategies and leadership.
Accreditations for Hospital Administration Degree Online Programs
When deciding to pursue your online healthcare administration degree, it’s important to research individual schools and their accreditations. There are plenty of accrediting bodies available, but that doesn’t mean they all hold online programs to the same standards. That means you have to research to make sure individual schools and programs are accredited. Then you have to make sure that either the United States Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) recognizes the accrediting agencies.
When it comes undergraduate programs, one of the most common accreditations is from the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). Their goal is to accredit specific degree programs that are committed to continuous improvement that provide student-centered education that meets the requirements of employers. The ACBSP doesn’t accredit schools or institutions, but rather it accredits individual programs. This helps ensure students that the individual degree they are pursuing meets the ACBSP’s guidelines.
The Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) accredits graduate healthcare administration and management programs. This agency accredits programs that meet or exceed their strict criteria, which includes maintaining flexibility and adaptability while promoting high standards in education, focusing on purpose and results, and addressing the broad scope of career opportunities in healthcare administration.
What to Do With Your Hospital Administration Degree Online
Once you’ve earned your healthcare administration degree online, there are a number of aspects to consider. These may include possible career options, mandatory or optional professional certifications, and continuing your education. You could focus on a certain topic of interest in the field such as the cost of U.S. healthcare.
Possible Careers After Earning Your Healthcare Management Degree Online
According to O*Net, 65% of medical and health service managers have a bachelors degree.i However, now some employers prefer to hire employees with a masters degree, which is making that degree more prevalent.ii As of May 2016, the median annual salary for medical and health services managers was $96,540. iv
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) expects an increase of 17% in the number of medical and health services managers for the years 2014 to 2024. This outperforms the 7% growth the BLS expects for all occupations. This is partly because the older generations are staying more active, creating an increased demand for physicians and medical procedures. So it goes along that there will be a greater need for medical and health service managers, too.ii
Professional Certifications for Medical and Health Service Managers
All states require nursing home administrators to be certified to promote quality to all professionals and to provide customers with peace of mind.iv The National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards (NAB) and the American College of Healthcare Administrators (ACHCA) both provide certification exams to those wishing to become nursing home administrators.
While there are no other medical and health service manager positions that require certification, some managers choose to become certified in one of many different areas. These areas may include medical management or health information management. These types of certifications may help enhance your career by proving your commitment to current and future employers.
Take Charge and Earn Your Healthcare Administration Degree Online
Click on any of the sponsored listings on this page to learn more about individual healthcare administration degree online programs. This includes program descriptions, common courses, and even allows you to request more information directly from the school. That way, you can narrow down your choices until you find the perfect program for you to earn your healthcare management degree online.
[i] onetonline.org/link/summary/11-9111.00 [ii] bls.gov/ooh/management/medical-and-health-services-managers.htm#tab-6 [iii] bls.gov/ooh/management/medical-and-health-services-managers.htm#tab-4 [iv] bls.gov/ooh/management/medical-and-health-services-managers.htm#tab-5