What does a health care administrator do?
A health care administrator is primarily in charge of overseeing the daily administrative operations of medical and health care facilities. They are responsible for setting objectives, establishing guidelines and employee schedules, maintaining accurate records, gathering and analyzing data, developing strategies to optimize operations, and coordinating with nurses, physicians, patients, and other health care experts. Moreover, as a health care administrator, it is essential to address and resolve issues and concerns, implement the facility's policies and regulations, and ensure that procedures comply with health care laws and standards.
Health care administrator responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real health care administrator resumes:
- Research and resolve recipients complaints relate to Medicaid service limitations, accessibility of MediPass manage services and provider treatment of recipients.
- Interview prospective adopters and communicate the pet's needs.
- Design training for EMR implementation for staff and medical providers.
- Oversee pet care technician staff and report issues to management.
- Utilize electronic medical records (EMR) technology for military members.
- Supervise the maintenance and safeguarding of medical records and compliance with HIPAA regulations.
- Institute automated systems for payroll and resident documentation.
- Ensure payroll records are processed accurately and timely.
- Assist recipients in selecting or locating Medicaid and MediPass providers.
- Ensure no-show information for patients who miss appointments are updated into the appropriate area for facility reporting purposes.
- Assess consistently patients for alteration in mental status and implement necessary clinical protocol for patient and unit safety.
- Lead and develop the technical strategy for improving architectural and design elements of SharePoint to enhance utilization and drive user functionality.
- Mow, trim, rake and clean up all trimmings and sidewalks.
- Operate riding lawn mower to mow lawn, and other materials list above to complete the task.
- Provide full time in-home care services for Parkinson's and dementia.
Health care administrator skills and personality traits
We calculated that 26% of Health Care Administrators are proficient in Patients, Patient Care, and Health Care Services. They’re also known for soft skills such as Technical skills, Analytical skills, and Integrity.
We break down the percentage of Health Care Administrators that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 26%
Ensured no-show information for patients who missed appointments were updated into the appropriate area for facility reporting purposes.
- Patient Care, 9%
Scheduled individual family conferences to address insurance coverage questions, clinical concerns, and general inquiries regarding patient care.
- Health Care Services, 6%
Reported to Vice President of Operations.Administrator of Health Care Services
- Home Health, 6%
Certified Nursing Assistant/Certified Home Health Aide
- Mental Health, 6%
Managed staff of 40.64 FTE's of unit to include medical, mental health, podiatry and optometry.
- Vital Signs, 4%
Monitored intake of daily medications including vital signs.
"patients," "patient care," and "health care services" are among the most common skills that health care administrators use at work. You can find even more health care administrator responsibilities below, including:
Technical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a health care administrator to have is technical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "health information technicians must use coding and classification software and the electronic health record (ehr) system that their healthcare organization or physician practice has adopted." Health care administrators often use technical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provide reliable, professional patient care in a compassionate and technically skilled manor. "
Analytical skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling health care administrator duties is analytical skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "health information technicians must understand and follow medical records and diagnoses, and then decide how best to code them in a patient’s medical records." According to a health care administrator resume, here's how health care administrators can utilize analytical skills in their job responsibilities: "collected patient specimens and data, including vital signs, input/output and other delegated measurements. "
Integrity. health care administrators are also known for integrity, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to health care administrator responsibilities, because "health information technicians work with patient data that are required, by law, to be kept confidential." A health care administrator resume example shows how integrity is used in the workplace: "cultivated trusting relationships with patients, families, medical/nursing teams and staff. "
Interpersonal skills. For certain health care administrator responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "interpersonal skills." The day-to-day duties of a health care administrator rely on this skill, as "health information technicians need to be able to discuss patient information, discrepancies, and data requirements with other professionals such as physicians and finance personnel." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what health care administrators do: "use of interpersonal skills' abilities to support clients/customer service requirements. "
Detail oriented. A commonly-found skill in health care administrator job descriptions, "detail oriented" is essential to what health care administrators do. Health care administrator responsibilities rely on this skill because "health information technicians must be accurate when recording and coding patient information." You can also see how health care administrator duties rely on detail oriented in this resume example: "recruited & oriented new employees, maintained personnel files, verified & authorized field employees and office personnel payroll. "
The three companies that hire the most health care administrators are:
- PEDIATRIC SPECIALTY CARE9 health care administrators jobs
- Sanford Health5 health care administrators jobs
- Sanford-Good Samaritan Community Health
4 health care administrators jobs
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Compare different health care administrators
Health care administrator vs. Visiting nurse
A visiting nurse is responsible for providing quality health care services for the patients in health care institutions, community centers, or private household setting. Visiting nurses assist the patients in their daily activities, administer medications, update their medical charts, and inform the family and attending physicians for the health progress reports. They also support in doing medical procedures, such as taking temperatures and vital signs, collecting specimens for laboratory examinations, and guide the patients on their therapy sessions.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a health care administrator are more likely to require skills like "health care services," "quality care," "regulatory compliance," and "human resources." On the other hand, a job as a visiting nurse requires skills like "acute care," "homecare," "wound care," and "per diem." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Visiting nurses tend to reach similar levels of education than health care administrators. In fact, visiting nurses are 2.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Health care administrator vs. Medical records clerk
Medical records clerks are employees in hospitals or clinics who manage office records. They are in charge of creating, updating, and filing patient-related medical records and other related documents. They ensure that all documents are correctly filled out and labeled before storing them safely in their respective storage areas. They may also be in charge of digitizing forms for easier access to files and back up purposes. They ensure that medical records are exact and updated. Medical records clerks should be organized and must always be on top of all tasks related to patient or medical records.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, health care administrator responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "health care services," "home health," "mental health," and "vital signs." Meanwhile, a medical records clerk has duties that require skills in areas such as "customer service," "data entry," "medical terminology," and "basic math." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Medical records clerks earn a lower average salary than health care administrators. But medical records clerks earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $32,510. Additionally, health care administrators earn the highest salaries in the professional with average pay of $71,258 annually.In general, medical records clerks achieve lower levels of education than health care administrators. They're 7.3% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for health care administrators in the next 3-5 years?
Jamie Rauscher RVT
Medical Manager, Animal Hospital of Towne Lake and Cat Clinic of Woodstock
Health care administrator vs. Medical biller coder
A medical biller coder is responsible for handling the billing processes and insurance within a hospital, clinic, or similar facility. They must gather patient information and records to analyze and translate them into codes according to the insurance and medical guidelines. Moreover, it is crucial to verify all patient forms and ensure their accuracy as it will serve as a basis on essential documents and medical record-keeping. There may also be instances where a medical biller coder must devise payment plans for patients, communicate with families and guardians, and coordinate with physicians.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from health care administrator resumes include skills like "patient care," "health care services," "home health," and "mental health," whereas a medical biller coder is more likely to list skills in "icd-10," "customer service," "cpt-4," and "hcpcs. "
Medical biller coders earn the best pay in the professional industry, where they command an average salary of $39,875. Health care administrators earn the highest pay from the professional industry, with an average salary of $71,258.medical biller coders typically earn lower educational levels compared to health care administrators. Specifically, they're 7.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Health care administrator vs. Medical records technician
A medical records technician is responsible for performing administrative duties, handling patients' medical records for medical purposes. Medical records technicians keep an organized database of patients' information, including medical history, diagnosis, healthcare treatments, laboratory schedules, and insurance details using specific healthcare coding procedures. Medical records technicians must be detail-oriented and highly organizational, especially on maintaining the accuracy and confidentiality of patients' information. This job is critical in the healthcare industry for the doctors' reference and determining treatment costs.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between health care administrators and medical records technicians, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a health care administrator might have more use for skills like "health care services," "home health," "mental health," and "vital signs." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of medical records technicians require skills like "medical terminology," "customer service," "medical facilities," and "medical charts. "
In general, medical records technicians earn the most working in the government industry, with an average salary of $40,715. The highest-paying industry for a health care administrator is the professional industry.The average resume of medical records technicians showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to health care administrators. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 6.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 1.2%.Types of health care administrator
Updated January 8, 2025
