T
he health sector is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the United States, and it is also one of the areas that will show the most significant growth in the coming years. The U.S. Bureau of Employment Statistics projects an increase of up to 32% over this decade in the job market for medical and health services administrators, a faster growth than the average for all other occupations. This indicates that the demand for health organization management professionals is already on the rise and that this trend will continue.
Much has happened since the days when it was always a doctor who acted as a hospital administrator. Indeed, there are still doctors occupying managerial positions. Still, since the 1990s, the United States has begun to see a movement of business administration professionals going on to lead health entities. This movement responded, among other reasons, to the need to review and reduce costs. And to meet that need, compensation for these professionals has also increased.
The Bureau of Employment Statistics of the United States government estimates the median salary for a hospital administrator at just over $110,000 annually. A study by the consulting company SullivanCotter on compensation for health system administration executives projects a 4.5% increase in the base salary of these professionals in 2022 due to the efforts of institutions to attract and retain qualified professionals.
Therefore, it is sought and expected that a manager in health institutions and organizations has preparation and skills in management, supervision, assignment of functions, budget design and management, and strategic planning. But health care is, in multiple aspects, a world with unique circumstances, dynamics, risks, and complexities. Therefore, health entities will look with particular interest at professionals who also understand the needs and intrinsic particularities of the health care world.
Historically, Albizu University has focused many of its educational programs and projects on the sciences of human behavior. But the institution also understands the importance of adopting multidisciplinary educational approaches. Based on that vision, Albizu now has a new master’s program that offers the opportunity to combine preparation in the field of health with education aimed at the administration of a company, entity, or organization. With this, it seeks to train professionals with an ideal skill set. Students participating in this program can study the operational aspects necessary to run an organization or company. Still, they will also have training in health care, attention to people, and understanding the needs and circumstances of people facing physical or psychological conditions.
All the effects the Covid-19 pandemic has had on health systems remain to be seen. Jeremy Veillard, a senior health specialist for the Latin America and Caribbean region of the World Bank, explains that we are now facing the consequences of the interruption or postponement of essential health services: the immunization rates of children have decreased, the people with chronic illnesses have not been able to access services, young people suffer from mental health problems, and access to preventive services has been dramatically affected. This will have repercussions on health systems in terms of loss of life and disability that could have been avoided and the impact on the financial sustainability of health systems.
It is up to the leaders of entities that offer health services to attend creatively to the challenges that this implies. The sector requires leaders who can reach communities with service needs and can help the population take care of their health in a preventive manner. In addition, they will need to find ways to make those efforts financially sustainable.
Albizu University new program
With these challenges in mind, an educational program in health services administration offers diverse opportunities in the industry, such as hospital or health services administrator, director of finance, strategic planning, and customer service. In addition, it can be extended to areas such as marketing and management of organizations associated with the health field that are not hospitals. The preparation offered by this type of program provides tools to serve entities such as pharmaceutical or insurance companies. It also provides skills to organize and direct non-profit entities that promote or offer health services and that seek to operate with fund structures that make them sustainable to fulfill their mission. That kind of leadership is becoming more necessary as more such organizations adopt corporate operating models and seek to be self-sustaining, transforming the view that the scarcity of resources, or depending on philanthropy, is part of the nature of this type of project.
But the program does not exclude other possibilities of professional development in the corporate world; rather, it supplements them. It offers essential preparation for it, working with statements of income and expenses, management of resources, and control of the life cycle of a product. It provides an efficient way to complete a business administration specialization with significant potential for professional development.
Albizu University’s MBA or Master of Health Care Business Administration is an accelerated 36-credit program that can be completed in a year or a year and a half. As it is a graduate program, it is assumed that the student has basic preparation in administration, which allows for a shorter intensive curriculum. In addition, this master’s degree is entirely online, so the student can access the courses from anywhere and study while attending to other responsibilities. The program also includes a study abroad experience, which takes students to an international destination for about a week. There, students share with industry experts from other countries and can appreciate cultural differences and see different models of managing organizations.
This academic opportunity prepares students to perform in managerial positions from the intermediate level onwards. It offers a unique perspective that encompasses the corporate area and a service component that can be applied virtually anywhere in the world. In addition, it provides possibilities for the professional interested in running a business who also wants to contribute to the community’s well-being in their environment.
The health care industry’s challenges are extraordinary: new technologies, the costs of recruiting and retaining qualified personnel, and the challenges of making a complex but essential operation profitable for society. It is these professionals who will shape the health system that we need in these times and who will propose new ways to deal with these challenges. It is a mission of critical importance and a valuable opportunity to provide solutions. The multidisciplinary academic preparation to assume this task is and will be decisive.
