Health Services Management Bachelor's Degree

Are you having trouble deciding between a career in health care or in business? Do you want to make a difference in the health care field without having to handle any direct medical care? Pursuing a health services management career path can be a great option. These career paths enable you to use business and leadership skills while working in a health care or medical setting. Learning more about health services management can help you figure out if it’s the right career for you.

What Is Health Services Management?

Health services management refers to planning and coordinating services in a medical or health care organization. Health services managers are the business leaders who help run health care organizations. They work to improve access and delivery of health care services. Some of these managers are responsible for one department. For example, some oversee the billing department in a hospital. Others manage an entire medical clinic or practice. Being successful in this career involves having strong leadership and business skills. Exact job duties and responsibilities will vary based on your career path. Managers' tasks include developing departmental goals, managing finances, and ensuring compliance with regulations.

Why Pursue a Health Services Management Career Path?

What makes this kind of career path a good choice? Working in health services management lets you play a vital role in a medical or health care organization. You’ll make essential decisions that can affect the delivery of health care services like access, equity, and outcomes. Although this path doesn’t involve you providing direct medical care, your decisions as a leader will affect the quality of care patients receive.

Health Services Management Jobs

What kinds of jobs are available in health services management? Whether medical office management, pharmaceutical sales, or long-term care organizational management, you’ll find a wide range of potential career paths in health care management. You’ll need to have a bachelor’s degree at minimum for these careers. A bachelor’s degree in health services management provides you with the education you need to qualify for the following roles.

Health Systems Manager

Health systems managers oversee departments or organizations in health care systems. They work for hospitals, long-term care organizations, and other types of medical organizations. Health systems managers are responsible for creating policies for an organization, ensuring compliance with regulations, supervising department leaders, managing budgets, and other management tasks. These managers might also represent the health care organization at public meetings and events.

Marketing and Community Relations Coordinator

Marketing and community relations coordinators oversee these aspects of their health care organization. They are responsible for creating community relations and marketing campaigns. They develop programs aimed at educating and improving relations with local community members. They might plan and oversee local events in the community and represent their organization at community meetings.

Care and Safety Coordinator

Care and safety coordinators oversee working conditions in health care environments. They ensure that their organization is in compliance with safety regulations. This involves training staff on safety procedures, regularly inspecting working conditions, and purchasing safety gear.

Medical and Pharmaceutical Sales

A health services management career may not involve working in a health care organization. Medical and pharmaceutical sales managers focus on selling medical supplies, durable medical equipment, or pharmaceutical products to physicians, hospitals, and other health care customers. These managers are responsible for promoting the products they sell, training sales staff, and setting goals for medical or pharmaceutical sales in their company.

Facility and Supply Chain Manager

This health services management career path may focus on the supply chain sales aspect of the health care field. Organization and supply chain managers are responsible for updating inventory, tracking logistics, and evaluating operational performance. They work with medical suppliers or vendors to ensure prompt shipping and delivery of products and supplies. This helps ensure that health care organizations have the supplies and equipment they need.

Patient Accounting and Billing Systems Analyst

Patient accounting and billing systems analysts are responsible for overseeing certain financial aspects of health care organizations. They're expected to maintain records of patient accounting and billing data. They may review a health care organization’s purchase orders, prepare invoices, and calculate patient fees.

Long-Term Care and Managed Facility Administrator

Long-term care and managed facility administrators oversee business operations in these types of health care organizations. They might work in nursing homes, rehab centers, assisted living, or other organizations that provide care on an ongoing basis. These administrators handle staffing, finances, and record-keeping to ensure their organizations run smoothly and provide high-quality care.

Medical Office and Clinic Manager

Medical office and clinic managers are responsible for overseeing day-to-day business operations in health care organizations. They’re often expected to manage a health care organization or clinic’s finances, policies, and staff. The job duties for these managers can differ, depending on the type of medical office or clinic they work at. Medical offices typically provide generalized medical care, while clinics often provide specific kinds of care, such as urgent or orthopedic care.

Project Manager/Consultant

For individuals passionate about health care and business, a career as a health services project manager or consultant offers an ideal blend of expertise. These professionals are pivotal in planning, coordinating, and executing diverse health care initiatives, ensuring seamless project implementation within medical facilities.
 
As a health services project manager/consultant, your key responsibilities encompass project planning, team leadership, risk management, quality assurance, and budget/resource management. Your expertise in guiding interdisciplinary teams and strategizing will drive innovative, successful project outcomes while maintaining the highest standards of patient care.
 
Project management/consulting presents an exciting and impactful career path, offering a rewarding experience that directly influences health care services delivery.

Is Health Services Management a Good Career?

Now that you know more about potential paths, does health services management seem like a good career? This kind of career can provide you with a challenging yet gratifying experience. A health services management career requires solid leadership skills, so you can make crucial decisions that affect the health care organization you work for. In addition to giving you a chance to put your business and leadership skills to use on a regular basis, health services management has a strong job outlook. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), this type of career may grow 28 percent through 2031. For comparison, the average job outlook among all careers is five percent.

Learn More Today

Looking for more information on a health services management career? Contact the U of M to learn more about our health services management bachelor’s degree program that can help you get started on the path toward working in this field.

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