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What can you do with a healthcare administration degree?

What is a healthcare administration degree?

A healthcare administration degree is great for students interested in business management and healthcare policies. There are many similarities when looking at healthcare management vs. healthcare administration but they are not the same thing. Healthcare administration tends to emphasize operations and patient experience, while healthcare management handles an organization’s overall financial health and strategic direction.

At ��������ʿ�����¼, a��Bachelor of Science in Health Administration��is a four-year, 120-credit online program. Students take 17 general education courses, 17 core education courses focused on improving their understanding of healthcare, and three electives.

Once their core courses are complete, students focus on their healthcare interests by selecting one of the following elective tracks:

• Health administration: In this track, you’ll explore management, finance, legal and ethical parameters and learn about risk and quality management. Other essential topics include human resources and information systems.
• Lifespan management: This track equips you with essential knowledge and skills to manage programs. You’ll also learn how to develop strategies to market services and ensure compliance. Other topics of study include financial viability and quality management.
• Health information systems: This track explores database concepts and information networking. Other topics include project management for health information systems.

In addition to the bachelor’s degree, ��������ʿ�����¼ offers a master’s in health administration and a Doctor of Health Administration. These programs prepare students for further professional growth with a wide range of new skills that can apply to a variety of careers within the health administration sector.

��������ʿ�����¼ also offers a combined Master of Health Administration/Master of Business Administration program. The program length, which is two and a half years, covers curriculum aligned to skills needed to step into a leadership role.��

Healthcare administration careers

Health information management director��

Overview: Health information management directors ensure databases for patient records are complete and accurate. They also help ensure that this information is accessible only to authorized personnel.

Education requirements: Health information management directors might be required to have an associate or bachelor’s degree. If seeking leadership positions, you may benefit from a master’s in health administration.

Practice administrator��

Overview: Practice managers and administrators have many shared responsibilities, but administrators focus more on the business side. They might oversee the operations for larger group medical practices, entire hospital departments or multispecialty medical clinics. In addition, their duties often involve .

Education requirements: Practice administrators typically have a bachelor’s degree or master’s in health administration, depending on employer needs.

How do I start a career in healthcare administration?

A common pathway to enter the healthcare administration field is to earn a Bachelor of Science in Health Administration.

It’s possible for healthcare professionals who have a clinical background to use online degrees to gain the necessary business skills to help them thrive in this role.

Nye Clinton, PhD, MBA, associate dean in the College of Health Professions at UOPX, shares: “As our population ages and the healthcare field rebounds from the challenges caused by COVID there is an increasing demand for healthcare administrators. Ensuring that those roles are filled with qualified applicants prepares the healthcare industry as a whole to effectively adapt and improve.”

What you’ll learn with a healthcare administration degree at UOPX

Pursuing a��Bachelor of Science in Health Administration��online at ��������ʿ�����¼ can help you embark on a rewarding career path in healthcare administration. In this program, you’ll learn the principles of dealing with such aspects of healthcare management as:

• Electronic health records
• Strategic planning
• Business communication
• Organizational behavior
• Financial management

The program also covers medical terminology for healthcare professionals, healthcare professional development including career planning and professionalism, overall healthcare management necessities and more.

What makes pursuing a degree from ��������ʿ�����¼ worthwhile? For starters, UOPX offers exceptional flexibility. For students with a job or jobs, children, caregiving responsibilities and other life pressures, online courses offer maximum convenience with 5- to 6-week courses taken one at a time and asynchronous class structures. (Deadlines exist, but you can meet them without attending classes at set times.)�� ��

In some cases, students can earn their healthcare administration degree without starting from scratch. ��������ʿ�����¼ offers the potential to turn real-life work experiences into college credits, saving time and money.

Graduates of UOPX bachelor’s degree programs also receive the Career Services for Life^® commitment, which includes one-on-one career advisement throughout their careers.

Other health administration degree options are:

• Master of Health Administration: Learn career-relevant skills for leadership roles in healthcare administration.
• Master of Health Administration (Comptency-Based): If you already have a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration or a related field, and you have professional experience, this degree program allows you to progress through the master’s program in less than a year. Strong self-discipline and time management skills are essential for this program in which you demonstrate skills you already have so that you can focus on learning new skills.
• Master of Health Administration with a concentration in Health Care Compliance and Privacy: This degree program helps students learn how to navigate healthcare laws, rules and regulations.
• Master of Health Administration/Master of Business Administration: With foundational skills in business management and health administration, this two-and-a-half-year program is ideal for aspiring business healthcare leaders.
• Doctor of Health Administration: Learn how to take a big-picture approach to healthcare administration with this terminal degree program, which teaches students how to understand and respond to economic fluctuations, legislation and more.
• Online healthcare certificate programs: Explore five different certificate programs to enhance your knowledge in subject-specific areas, such as health information systems and medical records.

To learn more about how our programs — including our health administration degree — can open doors for your career, request free information today.