What Is Healthcare Administration?

Health care administration is the top level of personnel in any health care setting. These are the people who make the decisions, along with the board of directors, and work on setting the standards those health care entities will follow.

Hospitals

• Every hospital has four standard positions, although there can be more. In small hospitals, some of those positions are consolidated. Also, at smaller hospitals, one of these positions might not be a full-time position.

President/Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

• This is the top position in any hospital. This person can go by either name or sometimes both names. Every once in awhile, they're called an administrator, but that's rare. In large for-profit hospital systems, the CEO is the top position. The main responsibilities of this position are political. They have to know how to strike a balance between physicians, employees and the community at large. In smaller hospitals, the CEO might also act as the chief financial officer (CFO). This position requires at least a master's degree, but not necessarily a master's degree in health care administration.

Vice President of Nursing/Chief Nursing Office (CNO)

• This position is responsible for all medical services a hospital provides. It requires at least a basic knowledge of medical procedures, staffing requirements, clinical knowledge and budgeting. Every person who ends up in this position has moved up the ranks, which means they've gone to nursing school and worked as a nurse in some capacity before considering management. This position also requires a master's degree.

Vice President of Finance/Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

• This position is responsible for all nonmedical services within the hospital and is probably the hardest position in the hospital because this person may oversee areas for which he has no training or background in, such as billing, purchasing, medical records and information technology. Also, it's the one administrative position in which the person might not have worked in a hospital before getting the position. Therefore, this position relies more on the directors of these areas for information and proficiency.

  It's also the only administrative position that doesn't specifically require a master's degree, although it's preferred. Most hospitals want someone with either an MBA or CPA status. This position is mainly responsible for the hospital budget, cash collections and bill payments.

Medical Director

• This position is responsible for physician oversight, as well as helping to make sure that procedure coding is being done properly, although that area doesn't report directly to him. In smaller communities, this might be a part-time position. Medical directors are always physicians, meaning they all have MDs. They will assist CEOs in communicating with other physicians and are usually the ones who will confront physicians on issues of medical misconduct.

Other Medical Facilities

• The titles don't change much when other types of medical facilities are considered. Nursing homes usually call the top position an administrator. They must have a license for the position, but don't necessarily have to have a master's degree. Clinics will usually have an executive director. All medical facilities must have physician oversight of some kind, but may not give the person the title of medical director.

Board of Directors

• The final ruling body is the board of directors. In nonprofit organizations, these are considered voluntary positions; in for-profit organizations, these positions are usually paid. The board of directors is responsible for oversight of both the organization and the president/CEO. It is the board that hires and fires the president. However, the board is not allowed to have any daily interaction within the organization and is not allowed any special treatment because they're on the board.