Health care administrators
Consumer-directed health plans
As a health care administrator, you will likely spend a great deal of your time focused on operations. You may find yourself working in a hospital, clinic, long-term care facility, hospice, urgent care center, home health agency, or a number of other types of organizations. Regardless of the type of organization, many of the operational responsibilities are the same.Health care financing has become quite complex. Because most health care organizations are reimbursed primarily from a third party (insurance company), health care administrators must manage the communication between the patient, the insurance company, and the organization. Consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) have increased in popularity as a way to reduce insurance premiums; however, the patient has a larger financial responsibility for services compared to managed care plans. This concept is known as cost sharing (Niles, 2021). It is very important to understand the payer mix of your organization, so you understand where and how revenue is coming in.Information technology is another huge area of focus right now for health care administrators. The health care industry has lagged behind other industries in the area of information technology. The U.S. health care system has seen a large increase in the number of electronic medical records implemented across health care organizations (Niles, 2021). In addition, other technologies such as telehealth, electronic data warehouses (EDWs), and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) are quickly expanding and improving the delivery of health care.
Reference
Niles, N. J. (2021). Basics of the U.S. health care system (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Demonstration of Proficiency