Healthcare Management: this short article explains Healthcare Management in a practical way. Next to what it is (definition), this article also highlights the functions, career advancement opportunities, Information Management and Risk Management. Enjoy reading!
Healthcare Management: this short article explains Healthcare Management in a practical way. Next to what it is (definition), this article also highlights the functions, career advancement opportunities, Information Management and Risk Management. Enjoy reading!
The term healthcare management, or care management, is defined as managing the functions within a healthcare organization. Healthcare organizations are led by healthcare managers. The duties and responsibilities of healthcare managers include, for example, directing healthcare units and ensuring that the healthcare facility functions as it should when it comes to budgets, objectives and meeting industry needs. Someone who is responsible for care management oversees the day-to-day running of the healthcare facility.
These functions exist at every level of healthcare. It is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide variety of titles.
Examples include: director, care supervisor, health coordinator and office manager. Healthcare managers are not always visible in places where care activities are thought to take place. They may also be in colleges, universities, public health, emergency care clinics, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies.
There are several training courses and degrees that lead to a professional position in this branch. Many students who go in this direction follow general or specialized healthcare training, or follow a program at a business school. Both Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs are available.
Healthcare professionals are often required to submit a Master’s degree before they can start working for positions such as those described above.
Healthcare professionals can continue their career by obtaining their doctorate and, for example, move on to a teaching position at university level. They can also become policy analysts or lead a large organization.
The duties of a healthcare manager vary by position. Some examples of care management tasks are described below:
It is clear that healthcare management, or care management, encompasses many different titles. There are also more specialized areas of care. A good example of this is information management. Information management is important because almost every healthcare facility maintains databases of information about the health of their patients. These databases are managed by professionals. The systems are designed by IT specialists, after which doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers enter the information. Billing specialists then ensure that the system is used correctly and that procedures are correctly put to use for insurance purposes.
Because it concerns very privacy-sensitive information, all systems and companies must comply with national and international laws and regulations. For this reason, cybersecurity specialists, for example, also work here. They ensure that the database is safe enough to store patient data. Developers and other IT specialists also regularly collaborate with physicians and other users to optimize the system and procedures.
Risk management may play a more important role in healthcare management than in business. It encompasses the systems and processes deployed to discover, assess, mitigate and prevent risks in healthcare. By using risk management effectively, healthcare institutions proactively and systematically guarantee the protection of patients and their data, but also their market share, brand value and reputation of the institution.
Traditionally, risk management has focused on patient protection. With the growing role of technologies, cybersecurity and the rapid pace of medical science, this focus has grown and therefore become more complex.
