Nursing home administrator vs patient care manager

The differences between nursing home administrators and patient care managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a nursing home administrator and a patient care manager. Additionally, a nursing home administrator has an average salary of $80,880, which is higher than the $65,369 average annual salary of a patient care manager.

The top three skills for a nursing home administrator include nursing home, long-term care and healthcare. The most important skills for a patient care manager are home health, patients, and quality care.

Nursing home administrator vs patient care manager overview

	Nursing Home Administrator	Patient Care Manager
Yearly salary	$80,880	$65,369
Hourly rate	$38.88	$31.43
Growth rate	28%	28%
Number of jobs	137,786	123,652
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	6	6

What does a nursing home administrator do?

A nursing home administrator is responsible for managing and running a nursing home facility and supervising staff. Your typical duties will include managing the budget and making critical decisions, overseeing the recruitment, training, and dismissal of staff members, conducting employee performance reviews, and communicating with prospective and existing residents and their families. Additionally, you are expected to advocate for nursing home residents, develop rules, procedures, and policies for the facility, and oversee residents' billings for services. As a nursing home administrator, you are also responsible for conducting safety training for all staff.

What does a patient care manager do?

Patient care managers are executives who are in charge of supervising a clinical team. The managers take responsibility for directing patient care within an organization. Also called health care managers, they protect every patient's safety and health in a clinical setting. They interact with the healthcare team members to maintain open communication. It is also part of their duties to supervise the daily operations in the clinical care units. Managing clinical budgets and maintaining quality health services are also their responsibilities.

Nursing home administrator vs patient care manager salary

Nursing home administrators and patient care managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Nursing Home Administrator	Patient Care Manager
Average salary	$80,880	$65,369
Salary range	Between $56,000 And $116,000	Between $36,000 And $117,000
Highest paying City	Wilmington, DE	Oakland, CA
Highest paying state	Oregon	California
Best paying company	Senior Living Properties	Accenture
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between nursing home administrator and patient care manager education

There are a few differences between a nursing home administrator and a patient care manager in terms of educational background:

	Nursing Home Administrator	Patient Care Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Business	Nursing
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Nursing home administrator vs patient care manager demographics

Here are the differences between nursing home administrators' and patient care managers' demographics:

	Nursing Home Administrator	Patient Care Manager
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 39.1% Female, 60.9%	Male, 17.1% Female, 82.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 7.6% White, 61.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 7.4% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between nursing home administrator and patient care manager duties and responsibilities

Nursing home administrator example responsibilities.

Manage the day to day operations of a LTC facility.
Achieve and maintain a 5 star quality facility as per CMS guidelines.
Lead a team in developing and implementing a new EMR system for patient registration.
Lead quality improvement initiatives and practices in change concepts and measurement strategies for improve health outcomes for long term care patients
Manage global security in WebSphere using LDAP authentication.
Manage billing procedures and negotiate third-party contracts including a federal Medicare and state Medicaid contracts.

Patient care manager example responsibilities.

Manage complicated cases involving serious injuries, medical evacuations, cruise ship disembarkation, and repatriation of remains with compassion.
Direct oversight of all case management and education relate to chronic disease and primary care management.
Utilize resources such as financial and pharmacy assistance for uninsure patients to receive professional medical care upon discharge.
Prevent unnecessary hospital admissions using keen assessment skills and redirecting to PCP's office when appropriate.
Ensure compliance both with HIPAA and CMS, to include all audits and enrollments via Medicare.
Plant and maintain flower beds such as mulching, fertilizing, watering, mowing, and pruning.

Nursing home administrator vs patient care manager skills

Common nursing home administrator skills

Nursing Home, 14%
Long-Term Care, 8%
Healthcare, 8%
Patients, 7%
NHA, 7%
Rehabilitation, 5%

Common patient care manager skills

Home Health, 15%
Patients, 12%
Quality Care, 8%
Social Work, 7%
Community Resources, 4%
Substance Abuse, 4%

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Nursing Home Administrator
Nursing Home Administrator vs Patient Care Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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