The salaries for healthcare administrators increase with experience.
The growing healthcare industry is comprised not only of medical specialists and physicians, but also healthcare administration professionals and managers. These businessmen and women keep the non medical side of healthcare running smoothly by planing, directing, coordinating, and supervising the administering of healthcare. Responsibilities can range from scheduling appointments and recording patient records to dealing with insurance claims and employee compensation. The salary provided for healthcare administration jobs can vary depending on several factors.
Qualifications
A bachelor's degree is typically the minimum requirement expected from healthcare administrators, but possession of a master's degree is becoming the standard. Common degree titles may include health service administration, healh sciences, public health, and of course business administration (MBA). Clinical administrators and managers will likely need to have a certain amount of work experience in the corresponding field. Those who wish to work as facility administrators in nursing homes are required to pass state level examinations.
Location
The cost of living as well as the level of demand or concentration of healthcare administrators and managers can influence wages. For example, in the District of Columbia (Washington D.C.), where the concentration of health administrators is the highest at 2,100 employed, the average yearly wage is $96,080. Oklahoma also has a high concentration of administrators at 4,220 employed, as well as a relatively low cost of living, and provides an average salary of $66,600 a year. The state of Washington has 3,990 employed, less than half the concentration of healthcare administrators as the District of Columbia, and provides the highest wages in the nation, averaging $109,460 a year. The national average salary for healthcare administrators in the United States is $90,970 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Industry
The type of employer providing by far the most jobs for healthcare administrators and managers in the U.S. is "general medical and surgical hospitals", offering a national average salary of $96,660 a year. Nursing care facilities often offer lower wages, averaging $77,560 a year. The highest paying industry for healthcare administrators is the pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing industry. Administrators who obtain these coveted positions can expect an average annual salary of $156,050, according to the BLS.
Experience
Healthcare administration is largely learned by experience, and like most professions, the more time spent in the field, the higher the salaries. For example, a health information administrator with only one to four years on the job may only average $51,093 a year. However, the same job held by a person with 20 years or more of experience may pay an average of $74,257 annually as of 2010, according to Alliedhealthschools.com.
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