How To Become A Senior Practice Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior practice manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Karla Sluis

This is also referred to as a Healthcare office manager. He/She is the overseer of all business operations and administrative aspects of medical practice. His/Her duties also include managing the budget, hiring employees, and ensuring regulatory compliance. As a senior practice manager, you would perform a lot of decision-making, leadership, and also organizational tasks. You also have to address the complaints of patients and interact with them. Collaboration with doctors to map out business strategies is also one of your many duties.

To be eligible for this post, you must have at least a bachelor's degree in health care administration or health information management. You can supplement this with a master's degree, as most candidates applying for this job have a master's degree. For a robust CV, you can get certifications in a relevant profession like a certified physician practice manager. A senior practice manager makes an average of $68,212 annually, depending on your level of education and location.

What general advice would you give to a senior practice manager?

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.

ScoreSenior Practice ManagerUS Average

Salary

8.1

Avg. Salary $119,792

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 8.15%

Black or African American 10.97%

Hispanic or Latino 14.71%

Unknown 4.27%

White 61.17%

Gender

female 35.38%

male 64.62%

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 senior practice manager

Explore senior practice manager education requirements

Most common senior practice manager degrees

Bachelor's

66.7 %

Master's

22.9 %

Associate

5.6 %

Start to develop specific senior practice manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	13.47%
Healthcare	8.42%
Patient Care	7.68%
Oversight	4.54%
Professional Services	4.13%

Complete relevant senior practice manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior practice managers 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 senior practice manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior practice manager resumes.

Research senior practice manager duties and responsibilities

Experience in managing implementations of healthcare information and EMR system.
Manage major transformation by creating/designing and implementing new EHR operating system providing communications, training and technical support throughout the process.
Maintain and update HIPAA, OSHA, and local policies and procedures to ensure compliance and staff education.
Prepare analyses and reports while advising clients in obtaining financing through state healthcare agencies, bond markets and private lenders.

Get senior practice manager experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a senior practice manager. The most common roles before becoming a senior practice manager include practice manager, senior consultant team lead and manager.

Prepare your senior practice manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior practice manager 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 senior practice manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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