What does a health care manager do?
A health care manager is in charge of overseeing the workflow and the workforce in a medical facility. Their responsibilities revolve around planning and organizing services, delegating tasks, managing schedules and budgets, and devising strategies for optimal operations. They must also coordinate with different health care workers within the facility, participate in hiring and training staff, set goals and guidelines, and maintain hospital records. Furthermore, a health care manager must implement the hospital's policies and regulations, even create new ones as needed.
Health care manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real health care manager resumes:
- Manage network participation, care with specialty networks, DME providers and transfers to appropriate levels of care.
- Manage patient care expenditures including but not limit to labor, pharmacy, DME, medical supplies and mileage.
- Provide oversight of the case management and utilization management staff for the Medicaid population
- Supervise and conduct employee seminars and training in employee health issues, infection control and CPR.
- Support sales team in designing population health solutions present in proposals and client facing PowerPoint presentations.
- Assist members with benefits, PCP referrals and inquires.
- Educate PCP about HEDIS and their role as providers.
- Train new employees on communicable diseases, blood borne pathogens, and agency forms.
- Provide compassion and sense of family
- Demonstrate CPR and obtain certification.
- Provide total care for Alzheimer/Dementia patients while providing assistance to assist living residence.
- Organize outreach and events presenting GCM services to medical offices and community organizations.
- Educate rehabilitation residents and caregivers on therapeutic diets and enteral feedings for home nutrition support.
- Conduct individualize nutrition assessments for residents in long-term skil nursing care and short-term residents receiving rehabilitation.
- Schedule and coordinate meetings, appointments and other similar activities for patients, which also include transportation arrangements.
Health care manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 28% of Health Care Managers are proficient in Social Work, Behavioral Health, and Substance Abuse. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Interpersonal skills, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Health Care Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 28%
Provided with the opportunity to lead dual roles as Social Worker and Vascular Access Manager for the Access initiative through DaVita.
- Behavioral Health, 10%
Provided behavioral health care management through telephonic support and home visits to nursing home ready population.
- Substance Abuse, 8%
Provided authorization for all Metro Plus members requiring in-patient psychiatric, substance abuse, and detoxification including children through adults.
- Community Resources, 8%
Accompany clients to provider appointments and community resources determined necessary and crucial.
- Patients, 5%
Reviewed customer survey information to prioritize areas of improvement which resulted in shorter wait times for patients requiring medical services.
- Utilization Management, 4%
Performed utilization management reviews and completed cases based on Medical Necessity Criteria.
"social work," "behavioral health," and "substance abuse" are among the most common skills that health care managers use at work. You can find even more health care manager responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a health care manager to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "medical and health services managers review and evaluate healthcare metrics for ways to improve efficiency and meet goals." Additionally, a health care manager resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "develop and assisted data administrators distribute health education materials. "
Leadership skills. health care managers are also known for leadership skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to health care manager responsibilities, because "medical and health services managers hire, train, and direct staff." A health care manager resume example shows how leadership skills is used in the workplace: "provided clinical expertise and leadership in support of department's focus on exceptional patient care and quality customer service. "
Technical skills. A big part of what health care managers do relies on "technical skills." You can see how essential it is to health care manager responsibilities because "medical and health services managers must stay up to date with advances in healthcare technology, such as the coding and electronic health record (ehr) systems their facility adopts." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical health care manager tasks: "provided technical assistance to medical staff, identified codes that will yield information desired and suggested avenues of exploration if appropriate. "
Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a health care manager to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what health care managers relies on this skill, since "medical and health services managers must convey information to their staff, other healthcare workers, and, sometimes, patients and insurance agents." How this skill relates to health care manager duties can be seen in an example from a health care manager resume snippet: "accompany patients to medical appointments, to facilitate open communication with providers. "
Detail oriented. While "detail oriented" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to health care manager responsibilities. Much of what a health care manager does relies on this skill, seeing as "medical and health services managers must pay attention to detail." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of health care managers: "establish and actively address goal-oriented care plans for an average of 40 patients each month ages 21 and older. "
The three companies that hire the most health care managers are:
- Centene79 health care managers jobs
- Highmark44 health care managers jobs
- UnitedHealth Group41 health care managers jobs
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Compare different health care managers
Health care manager vs. Nursing director
A nursing director's role is to oversee and evaluate all nurse staff in a hospital or organization, ensuring their efficiency at providing care towards patients. A nursing director's responsibilities mainly revolve around administrative tasks such as coordinating with physicians and other consultants, producing reports, conducting assessments, managing the budget and expenditures, and resolving issues. Furthermore, a nursing director must keep and maintain accurate records, ensuring all procedures adhere to the highest health standards and aligns with the hospital's policies and regulations.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between health care managers and nursing director. For instance, health care manager responsibilities require skills such as "social work," "behavioral health," "substance abuse," and "community resources." Whereas a nursing director is skilled in "term care," "resident care," "infection control," and "cpr." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Nursing directors really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $83,602. Comparatively, health care managers tend to make the most money in the utilities industry with an average salary of $75,347.The education levels that nursing directors earn slightly differ from health care managers. In particular, nursing directors are 11.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a health care manager. Additionally, they're 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Health care manager vs. Service director
A service director is responsible for managing and implementing customer service policies and ensuring that all staff strictly adhere to reach the highest customer satisfaction. Service directors' duties include identifying business opportunities to improve customers' experience, monitoring the performance of the customer service team, developing strategic procedures on service delivery, creating new promotional offers and services, and coaching the team to increase business productivity. A service director must have excellent leadership and communication skills, as well as extensive knowledge of the customer service industry to lead the team and boost company sales.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that health care manager responsibilities requires skills like "social work," "behavioral health," "substance abuse," and "community resources." But a service director might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "healthcare," "oversight," "surgery," and "perioperative."
Service directors may earn a higher salary than health care managers, but service directors earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $137,415. On the other hand, health care managers receive higher pay in the utilities industry, where they earn an average salary of $75,347.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Service directors tend to reach similar levels of education than health care managers. In fact, they're 4.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Health care manager vs. Clinical director
A clinical director is a managing professional who manages the work of healthcare providers to ensure quality patient care is achieved. Clinical directors are responsible for organizational tasks such as adjusting staff schedules, explaining insurance benefits to the patients, and managing financial reports. They can work either in small clinics with a smaller workforce or larger hospitals with multiple departments. Clinical directors may also assist in the hiring process of healthcare providers and should establish a positive work environment.
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 manager resumes include skills like "behavioral health," "utilization management," "care management," and "data entry," whereas a clinical director is more likely to list skills in "physical therapy," "clinical services," "clinical operations," and "group therapy. "
Clinical directors earn the highest salary when working in the health care industry, where they receive an average salary of $79,166. Comparatively, health care managers have the highest earning potential in the utilities industry, with an average salary of $75,347.Most clinical directors achieve a higher degree level compared to health care managers. For example, they're 10.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 8.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Health care manager vs. Medical consultant
A medical consultant assists doctors and other medical staff in running a healthcare facility. They give advice on matters such as salaries, staffing, advertising, safety, patient confidentiality and insurance plan compliance. They are also responsible for gathering and analyzing data, coming up with conclusions, providing recommendations to the employer, helping the institution ensure they are compliant with insurance and safety standards, and offering advice that will help optimize the performance of the health facility.
Types of health care manager
Updated January 8, 2025
