Hi,

Healthcare Management is the upcoming rising sector, having importance nationwide and globally too. There will be huge opportunities and bright career scope in this field, unlike any other IT or business companies. It is seen that there is constant growth in the healthcare industry. Students and professionals are getting aware of this field and they find new job opportunities in the field such as hospitals, insurance companies and accounts in various private and government sectors. The only requirement is to develop skills related to healthcare management by pursuing an undergraduate or a graduate degree program from a certified institute.

What is Healthcare Management?

Healthcare Management is the profession meant for providing direct patient care, give guidance to an organization for future developments, to deliver personal health services and to look after the divisions, units, departments, or services within those health organizations. The aim is to provide all health services within their budgets, according to patients need and for beneficial outcomes. It is all about to bring a revolution in the way of care delivered and afforded to the customer care.

Healthcare Industry

• Healthcare industry is growing at a tremendous pace owing to its strengthening coverage, services and
• increasing expenditure by public as well private players.
• During 2008-20, the market is expected to record a CAGR of 16.5 per cent.
• The total industry size is expected to touch US$ 160 billion in 2017 & US$ 280 billion by 2020 generating
• over 10 lac job in India which makes a doctoral degree in Healthcare Management a lucrative opportunity.
• As per the Ministry of Health, development of 50 technologies has been targeted in the FY16, for the
• treatment of disease like Cancer and TB.
• The scope in this field lies in the fact that India is said to require close to a million healthcare management
• professionals by 2018. Like all industries, it aims to explore and find effective
• Health professionals are needed in all branches of Healthcare including medicine, surgery, dentistry,
  pharmacy, community health, operations & marketing.

Read Also: What are different courses including short-term diplomas available in Healthcare Management?

According to BLS (The Bureau of Labor Statistics), Healthcare Management is the fastest growing occupation due to expansion and diversification of the healthcare industry. The expected employment growth for healthcare managers is to get rise more than 15% till 2018 as compared to other occupations.

                         Read Also: ICRI - A top institute in Clinical Research and Healthcare Management

How Healthcare Managers work:

There is a wide scope of career for healthcare managers. One can work as a manager in inpatients and outpatient care units in clinics and hospitals.  One can also work in consulting firms, associations, pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment companies, etc. One can also work as an assistant to a manager to help him in various direct care and non-direct care companies.

Managerial functions:

Working in a healthcare company requires leadership skills, supervision ability and coordination ability to work with employees in a complex and dynamic environment. The role of a manager is to achieve company targets and to give support to various financial and human resources. One should have skills to relate to development and recruitment of staff, bring new technologies and decision making capability to ensure the patient’s comfort. One may get jobs for the post of supervisor, coordinator, and director of the healthcare organization. It depends upon various skills that can be categorized into six categories:

• Making Strategy: One should have the ability to focus on the goals of the organization and to explore the needs to achieve those targets. It’s all about setting priorities and target performances.
• Perfectly Organized: One should have the skills to work for overall development of an organization, a specific unit or services for which a manager is responsible. One has to determine various aspects such as build relationships, teamwork assignments, distribution of authority and responsibility in emergency conditions.
• Dealing with staff: One has to acquire and retain human One should have the tactics and strategies to develop and maintain the working staff of the organization.
• Control of activities: One has to monitor various staff activities and to take appropriate actions for the growth of their performances.
• Take initiatives: One should have the ability to take initiatives for the benefits of an organization through effective leadership qualities and motivate their subordinates by communicating with them.
• Decision-making ability: One should have the capability to make effective decisions depending upon the considerations of the benefits and drawbacks of different aspects of a company.

Read also: The Courses in Healthcare Management by ICRI

Key competencies of a manager:

Competency is meant for having the ability to perform certain functions in an adequate manner. A manager has the responsibility to work on the various functions of healthcare management effectively. One should have three main key competencies for achieving targets.

• Conceptual skills: These skills require the ability to analyze critical situations and to provide a solution to them. It involves various complaints of patients regarding any type of services such as food services.
• Technical skills: It requires an expertise to perform a specific task. It involves work such as maintaining and improving computer-based or lab equipment related issues.
• Interpersonal skills: It requires communication skills such as how to work with peers, supervisors or subordinates. A manager has to counsel his employee to work well for getting desired performance level for the upcoming years.

Various job prospects:

In healthcare organizations, one can get various job opportunities from the lower level to top level managerial positions. These job prospects depend upon various skills and responsibilities of an individual. One can get his perfect career among these:

• Lower-level managers: These levels of managers have the least authority to do management work. One has to work under supervisors. He has only responsibility to keep patient medical reports.
• Middle-management levels: A supervisor has the responsibility only for a small housekeeping service. One has to work only for a specific area of an organization within an environmental service department.
• Upper-management level: One can get the position of a vice-president of Patient care services. The role of a vice-president is to take charge of various functional areas such as nursing, diagnostic services, and lab services.
• Top management level: One may get the post of a director which is the senior-management level of healthcare services.

Read Also: What are the different jobs opportunities lie with Healthcare Management?

One can get managerial positions depending upon knowledge and experience at different challenging levels of an organization. Students may apply for the entry level positions for a kick-start in healthcare department. One can apply in clinics, community hospitals, academic medical centers, depending on the levels of administration in various fields. Due to expected rapid growth in this field, chances of getting a job are also high for an individual. One needs to get a structured program of learning which involves strategic thinking, finance, law, economics, data analytics and high quality to cater his need in this field.