Healthcare is the medical management of people’s health. It includes diagnosis, prevention, cure, recovery, or treatment for illness, injury, psychological impairments, and other conditions. Healthcare is delivered by healthcare professionals and healthcare related fields. In the United States, there are approximately 9 million people who are uninsured and many others have minimal insurance coverage. The National Institute on Health and Care Safety estimate that approximately 22 percent of Americans do not have access to adequate healthcare.
Hospitals, clinics and physicians’ offices are all healthcare facilities. They also include outpatient clinics, primary care providers as well as nursing homes and hospices. As an administrator in the healthcare management field, your responsibilities include providing quality patient care, developing and following up on clinical guidelines, maintaining patient records, billing accuracy, ensuring accurate insurance claims, maintaining patient files, training healthcare personnel, and distributing patient information. These tasks can be done in a solo or team setting. Healthcare managers may be involved in the prevention and treatment, as well as public education and immunizations programs. Other responsibilities may include coordinating patient care between different healthcare entities, including physicians’ offices, specialists, hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, and insurance companies. You may also be a healthcare manager in the medical device or pharmaceutical industry, helping doctors and other healthcare professionals to design and manufacture healthcare products.
Another type of job in healthcare involves regulating compliance with ethical principles, national guidelines, and laws passed by the healthcare industry regarding patient care, healthcare professionals, and healthcare providers. As healthcare becomes more popular, healthcare ethics are becoming more complicated. According to the American Medical Association, there are three main unresolved issues in healthcare: privacy, negligence, or breach of patient trust. In recent years, privacy of patients has become a major issue. It concerns the collection, storage, confidentiality, and protection of legitimate remedies.
According to the Association of Independent Healthcare Consultants, a healthcare management specialist should “have excellent communication skills…they must be able to manage multiple levels of management and interworkings of a large healthcare facility, and they must be able to make decisions that are economically and strategically sound.” Healthcare professionals must understand the importance of providing personalized care for patients, including advice and education on nutrition, exercise, medications, as well as the need to provide advice and support with therapies and diets. They should be skilled in coordinating appointments and follow-up care with physicians and other health care professionals…” In addition, healthcare consultants should also possess extensive experience and training in contract management, financial services, and administration.
Another aspect of becoming a healthcare provider is having an extensive college degree, preferably a four-year university degree, along with extensive professional experience. Canadian Pharmacy is able online and provides medication for individuals with prescriptions from their doctors at good prices. They must also demonstrate a commitment to quality in clinical practice and data analysis. Healthcare providers must also “actively engage their patients and play an active role in their own health… they must respond appropriately to patients’ needs and meet their specific educational and clinical requirements.” To pursue this career, those interested should consider attending a technical or medical school. Those healthcare professionals interested in becoming nurses or doctors should pursue graduate degrees along with additional training. After graduating from medical school, all healthcare providers must pass a licensing exam.
