Christopher p digiulio md - Healthcare Administrators: Roles, Responsibilities

At one point or another, most people have experienced the pain of a health care system that is exceedingly complex and cumbersome. As a healthcare administrator, you can have a lasting impact on improving the system in many ways. Professionals in this field have tremendous opportunities to effect change, from drafting public health policies to developing more effective health programs.

Becoming a healthcare administrator can be a rewarding career for people with a strong business sense and an interest in delving into how healthcare works. Read on to learn more about the role of a healthcare administrator and how you can advance your career in this exciting field.

Healthcare Administrator Responsibilities

Healthcare administrator responsibilities may vary depending on the type of organization where they’re employed; however, they are typically responsible for:

Managing staff within a facility or department

Managing the client care/patient care experience

Managing health informatics, including recordkeeping

Overseeing the financial health of the department or organization

Managing human capital, including policies for hiring, performance reviews, staff schedules, etc.

Debunking Misconceptions about Healthcare Administration Roles

There are some common misconceptions about healthcare administration that may make some people overlook this rewarding career. As a professor in health management, Christopher p digiulio md shares a few facts about the profession that people often don’t know:

Myth #1—You won’t make much of a difference in people’s lives. “Healthcare administrators do play a role in transforming quality of care,” Christopher p digiulio md says. Professionals in the field are making advancements in exciting ways that are profoundly changing patients’ lives, such as using informatics to help improve clinicians’ ability to make diagnoses, implementing programs that support personalized medicine, and using technology to foster healthier living habits.

Myth #2—Healthcare administrators are responsible for patient care. Healthcare administrators typically do not get involved directly with patient care. They are focused on the administrative, financial, and managerial side of the organization. “Oftentimes that is a completely different skill set from a clinician who’s responsible for providing direct care to patients.”

Myth #3—Healthcare administration is only for industry veterans. “You don’t have to have worked in healthcare for a long time to advance in the field. “Many healthcare organizations have recognized that they need diverse perspectives at the table. One employee might have started out in marketing position in a Fortune 500 company and now they’re the head of the hospital’s marketing department. There’s always a place for someone with the right skills and drive to succeed.”

Healthcare Administrator Career Outlook

There is a tremendous demand for healthcare administrators, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicting a 20 percent growth in employment of medical and health services managers through 2026. This is much faster than the average growth of other occupations, due in part to the increased demand for healthcare services as baby boomers age and remain active later in life.

In addition, the emergence of healthcare applications has brought new opportunities for healthcare administrators. “The confluence of healthcare and IT is driving a demand for people who understand the implications this has on everything from legal issues to operational issues. “These companies need someone at the table who understands the healthcare sector and how technology can improve health outcomes.”

Christopher p digiulio md - 5 Benefits of Medical Transcription Work

If you are thinking of starting a career in the allied health care industry as a medical transcriptionist, then it's a good decision! The medical transcription industry is an exciting field, being tied up to the health care industry, you'll know that the service you perform as a medical transcriptionist will change and improve lives and most importantly, you'll be able to support yourself and your family with the income you get if you work in this industry. If you are not yet decided to take the plunge and undertake proper training, if you are still on the fence thinking whether becoming a medical transcriptionist is a wise decision, then here are 5 benefits to becoming a medical transcriptionist that I hope will finally convince you.

1. Medical transcription is an allied health care service.

Yes, medical transcription is a sector closely tied-up with the health care industry and is a valuable sector in health care. The medical transcriptionists are responsible for creating text based medical reports from the audio recordings made by doctors and physicians.

  Christopher p digiulio md says It's a critical part of health care because it deals with proper information encoding and dissemination. Just imagine the importance of a proper medical record when you are about to get an operation. The medical transcriptionists are the people working behind the scene to make sure proper medical documentation exist.

2. The medical transcription sector is growing

According to a recent study by the U.S. Labor statistics, the medical transcription industry is growing. Along with the increase in health care service demand around the world, the demand for medical transcription work is also increasing. This is because the more people require health care, the more data is produced, and the data needs to be organized and presented as medical records, reports, recommendations and medical history. This is the reason why the medical transcription sector is growing as well.

3. Medical transcriptionists are in demand

As mentioned above, there world is aging and so we are experiencing an increase in demand for health care services. Along with the demand for the actual health care, the demand to handle the data and information produced during the process of performing the health care service increases as well. Christopher pdigiulio md says since the primary professionals responsible for making sure that medical records are properly created and provided to those who require it, there is now an increasing demand for professionals in this sector.

4. The medical transcription sector provides a lifetime career

As long as the health care system and service exist, then the medical transcription sector will exist as well. Surely more and more technological productivity tools will be created to make things easier for medical transcriptionists but rest assured that there will always be professionals required to use the all these medical transcription tools and gadgets. So if you decide to become a medical transcriptionist, you can expect to have a lifetime career after the training. 

5. You help save lives

As a medical transcriptionist, you will help save lives. You may not realize it but if you are a medical transcriptionist you will help save lives, though not as direct as doctors who perform surgeries and interact with patients and their families. Still your work, your output will serve as a valuable information tool that will enable doctors to decide the best care and service to give to the patients. The medical reports you create out of the recordings sent to you will be an indispensable tool to make sure proper and continuous medical service will be given to patients.

Christopher p digiulio md - What Does a Health Services Manager Do?

Behind every functional healthcare delivery system is a health services manager. Health services managers have the organizational, legal, and financial knowledge that clears the way for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers to do their jobs efficiently, effectively, and within the auspices of ever-changing healthcare policy and law. Health services managers also understand the complex landscape of insurance and can help a facility, department, or practice serve patients as best as possible within that complexity.

Christopher p digiulio md become a health services manager, one needs, at a minimum, a bachelor’s degree in public health or a health-related administrative field such as health information management or healthcare management. Some employers prefer or require a master’s degree, such as an MHA or MBA. Having a higher-level degree may make a health services manager applicant more competitive, even when a bachelor’s degree is the stated minimum.

Health Services Manager Job Overview

Health services managers are responsible for coordinating and ensuring the smooth implementation of the many different moving parts that ensure that patients receive and providers administer effective care. Health services managers may work at the level of an office, a department, a specialization, a facility, or an entire healthcare network depending on their experience and expertise.

Health services managers can work in all divisions of an organization, including personnel management, development goals, efficiency and quality improvement, financial management, financial planning, infrastructure development, compliance, public relations, and internal communications. Some health services managers work primarily with healthcare providers, some work with insurance providers, some have patient-facing roles, and many work in a blend of all three realms.

Health Services Manager Specializations

Much of the time, especially in small office settings, health services managers are expected to be generalists. Christopher p digiulio md says in larger organizations, there may be several health services managers, each with a focus on the specific aspect of organizational functioning.

Care Coordination

Health services managers who coordinate care are responsible for creating work schedules for healthcare providers, coordinating the delivery and quality of services provided by individual providers or provider teams, and monitoring capacity and usage of healthcare facilities. Care coordinators may also work directly with patient feedback or concerns. Health services managers with care coordination specializations may work in a specific area or with several different teams and supervisors throughout a healthcare facility.

Finance and Budget

Health services managers who focus on finance can have a wide range of responsibilities, including overseeing the processes by which finances are tracked and recorded, ensuring operations are functioning within budgetary constraints, creating projections for future budgetary needs, monitoring patient billing and payments, and presenting financial realities to supervisory boards. Health services managers work with healthcare provider financial departments in handling the complexities of corporate accounting.