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.