Hospital Administrator Careers: Salary and Job Outlook

Hospitals employ managers in every department, at many levels. In the field of healthcare management, hospital administrators are at top of the chain and oversee budgeting, marketing, and policy-making, as well as direct a team of assistants, and oversee managers in other departments. To become a top hospital executive, one must rise through the ranks of management and have the necessary education.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics forcasts that hospital administration will continue to grow at a faster than average rate among other health and management fields. The requirements to become a healthcare administrator vary by specialty; salaries also depend on specific job duties, geographic location, education level, and prior experience. You can browse available jobs in hospital management to gather more specific information.

Education Needed to Become a Hospital Administrator

Large healthcare facilities look for candidates with Master's degrees in business administration, public health, public administration, human health, nursing, and other science, medical, and management disciplines. The larger the hospital and the higher the level of management, the more educational credentials are required.

If you want to work with patient records--maintenance, security, and access--there are about 50 accredited universities that offer health information management degrees.

Generalist managers don't need any specific medical training, but clinical managers often do. For example, a hospital pharmacy director should have formal training in business and accounting as well as pharmaceutical science.

Licensing for Healthcare Administrators

Nusing home administratiors must be licensed by the state they work in, but for other kinds of hospital and private practice managers, no licensing is required.

Types of Healthcare Management Jobs

Hospital Administrator/Director/Executive: Upper level management positions are usually held by former doctors and those with Master's or doctorate degrees in public health. To rise to this position, you must accumulate experience in supervisory roles and demonstrate excellent leadership and decision making skills, especially in making financial decisions. You must also be at ease working with a large number of people who have diverse and often conflicting views. Hospital administrators spend a great deal of their time coordinating different groups, so strong communincation skills are mandatory.

Hospital Department Administrator: Below the top hospital adminstrators are department managers who oversee budgeting, hiring, and policy-making for a specific group of employees. A hospital may have directors for nursing, physical therapy, pharmacy, surgery, etc. Department heads often have training in the area they manage. For example, the head of nursing usually holds a PhD or MSN degree in nursing in addition to management credentials.

Physician's Office Manager: Some health managers work in private practices. To oversee a smaller healthcare business, you do not need as much formal education as in a large hospital setting.

Academia: Those with significant management experience and advanced degrees may become teachers, training a new generation of hospital administrators and healthcare directors. Though the salary for teaching jobs is less than management positions, the hours are better and the environment is less stressful.

Other Employment Opportunities:

• Outpatient Care Facilities
• Nursing Homes
• Addiction Recovery Centers
• Home Healthcare Services
• Medical Supply Manufactures
• Insurance Companies
• Pharmaceutical Companies

Salaries for Medical Services Managers

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for any type of healthcare manager is about $84,000 per year. The middle 50% of earn between $66,000 and $109,000 annually.

As in other industries, a hospital manager's salary is proportional to the amount of work experience she has, the size of the organization or department she manages, and her level of education. Hospitals and labs pay the highest salaries for administrators, while outpatient care centers and nursing homes pay less. The table below shows the average annual wage for managers at different kinds of healthcare centers. See also: Hospital Admin Job Openings.

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