How To Become A Medical Care Administrator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a medical care administrator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Karla Sluis

A Medical Care Administrator, otherwise known as a healthcare administrator, is responsible for the management, organization, and oversight of the day-to-day clerical and administrative operations conducted in medical facilities. The Administrator is also meant to report on all activities, including spendings, within their department, keep detailed medical records, keep inventory, and develop work schedules.

They often cooperate with other employees and fellow administrators to develop new goals, figure out solutions, and generally ensure all activities and processes need to work as best and as efficiently as possible.

A Medical Care Administrator generally needs to have a Bachelor's in Health Care or Business Administration or an otherwise relevant field. They will also usually be asked to have a few years of experience working in a position that has something to do with hospital administration. People in this position earn $80,525 a year on average.

What general advice would you give to a medical care administrator?

Karla Sluis

Marketing Manager, AXIS Health System

Your career will likely be a winding journey - not a single destination. You may end up in a totally different role than you thought you would. Follow your interests and be open to changing jobs. Be grateful for the experience you gain, and don't make the mistake of flaming or bad-mouthing an employer when you move on. Heal thyself! Remember self-care in this giving profession, and be mindful of your inner slave-driver. Take your lunch breaks, schedule your vacations, and practice what you preach with a healthy diet and exercise.

ScoreMedical Care AdministratorUS Average

Salary

5.5

Avg. Salary $70,177

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.1

Growth rate 28%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.73%

Asian 7.89%

Black or African American 10.69%

Hispanic or Latino 14.80%

Unknown 4.28%

White 61.61%

Gender

female 71.81%

male 28.19%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a medical care administrator

Explore medical care administrator education requirements

Most common medical care administrator degrees

Bachelor's

49.8 %

Associate

20.5 %

Master's

14.0 %

Start to develop specific medical care administrator skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	21.39%
Patient Care	13.06%
Home Health	9.18%
Financial Management	3.28%
Regulatory Compliance	3.24%

Complete relevant medical care administrator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical care administrators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a medical care administrator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical care administrator resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed medical care administrator usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed medical care administrator in most of states. 43 states require medical care administrators to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Maryland	Degree required	Third-party exam required	NURSING HOME ADMINISTRATOR
Alabama	Degree required	State exam required	Licensed Nursing Home Administrator
Alaska	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Nursing Home Administrator
Arkansas	Specific course required	Both state and third-party exams required	Nursing Home Administrator
California	Degree required	Both state and third-party exams required	Nursing Home Administrator

Gain additional medical care administrator certifications

Medical care administrator certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific medical care administrator certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for medical care administrators include Medical Assistant and Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA).

More About Certifications

Research medical care administrator duties and responsibilities

Experience with various payer sources to include Medicare, Medicaid, and manage care entities.
Manage medical records in accordance with federal and state HIPAA guidelines, maintaining confidentiality of patient information.
Manage and facilitate manuscript preparation of oncology clinical trials results arising from currently market and pipeline drugs.
Maintain working knowledge of Medicare/ Medicaid, HIPPA and SSI/SSDI.

Prepare your medical care administrator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your medical care administrator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a medical care administrator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable medical care administrator resume templates

Build a professional medical care administrator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your medical care administrator resume.