Chapter 8: Healthcare Administration and Informatics
Katie Baker
Summary
In this chapter, we have explored many different careers from administrative jobs and other executive options to those with direct patient-facing responsibilities. The education requirements for these careers will vary from a high school degree and no formal education to advanced degrees in healthcare administration, business or finance. Many certification programs abound for entry-level positions and graduate level advancement education.
In our introduction, we learned about Alma who was looking for a career change but was concerned about the commitment required while she was working a full-time job and raising a family. Many of these careers are open to individuals through night classes and online education, providing access to training programs that would have otherwise been difficult to schedule. In Alma’s meeting with the career counselor, she may have explored many of these options such as patient advocate, coding and billing specialist or patient services representative. If she chooses to find an entry-level position, she may find a job that provides tuition assistance for employees seeking to earn advanced degrees and rise in their organization.
Hopefully, the content of this chapter has exposed you to careers that you have not considered before and maybe piqued your interest in researching a career that suits you well. Many community colleges will have information about careers that students have entered upon completion of their certification or degree programs. researching the Community College Department website may help you to determine if the college offers an education in the career in which you are interested. Phone calls, emails or in-person appointments with career counseling departments within a community college are another way to find out more information about the types of jobs that graduates from the program have attained. Another great resource is the National Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tracks employment and salary averages in different careers.
Review Questions
- Compare and contrast between a medical coder and a medical biller in your own words. What makes them similar and what makes them different?
- Differentiate between a clinical director and an office manager in your own words. How would you distinguish between the two positions?
- In your words, describe Health Information Technology and Health Information Management. What are some of the similarities and differences between the two?
- Where would a chief nurse report to, the CEO or the President?
- How do the CEO and President’s job descriptions vary?
- What stands out to you about the educational requirements of each job mentioned in the chapter? How do administrative job educational requirements compare to those of direct-facing positions?
- When considering a career pathway, which ones have the most room for advancement and how does it occur?
- Define a superbill and describe how it is used.
- How are a patient navigator and a patient advocate similar? How are they different?
- Which jobs in this chapter can be done with an associate’s degree or a certificate and which ones require a bachelor’s degree or higher?