If you've been in the healthcare field for a while, you may decide it's time to develop your skills further and move into a managerial position. In other cases, you may enter the field with an eye toward a leadership role at a healthcare organization. Either way, you can get the education you need for these jobs by earning an online degree in healthcare management.
While similar to healthcare administrators, as a healthcare manager you would be responsible for managing everything at a healthcare facility, including:
Healthcare administrators are generally responsible for issues related to patient care, such as staffing and handling communication with patients and their family members.
Although healthcare managers may not work directly with patients every day, your role would still be integral to the quality of care that people receive. In fact, many students choose this career path in order to make an impact on health outcomes.
Read on to find out more about the healthcare management field, including what you can expect to study if you pursue healthcare management online programs, information on complementary healthcare management jobs, certifications that healthcare managers can earn in order to advance in their careers and the related professional organizations.
A successful healthcare management career begins with a high-quality education. In order to help you find online colleges for healthcare management that is the best fit for your needs, we have compiled a list of the best online healthcare management degree programs on the graduate and undergraduate levels. Continue reading to find out the types of degree programs that are available at these schools and what resources each school has to offer online learners.
A successful healthcare management career begins with the right online degree in healthcare management. And in order to help you find a school that may be a great fit for your needs, we have compiled a list of the best online healthcare management degree programs on the graduate and undergraduate levels. Continue reading to find out what each school has to offer online learners.
Visit our methodologies page to learn more about how we use official data to evaluate schools.
PCC's Academic Focus: Founded in 1961, Pitt Community College is dedicated to providing a dynamic education that prepares students to enter the workforce, play an active role in the community or continue their education to the bachelor's level and beyond.
Featured PCC Resource: Online students can take advantage of the PCC Library, which gives them access to numerous research guides, books and articles. In addition, distance students can also use the online chat to get research help from a librarian.
Healthcare Management at Pitt Community College
A.A.S. Healthcare Management Technology
Certificate in Healthcare Management Technology
HUM's Academic Focus: Herzing University-Minneapolis, a private nonprofit school, is dedicated to providing education programs for healthcare professionals. This institution aims to be a "lifelong learning partner for its students, employers, and communities."
Featured HUM Resource: Students who need help with resume writing, interviewing and job searches can get assistance through the school's Career Development department.
Healthcare Management at Herzing University-Minneapolis
B.S. in Healthcare Management
HUB's Academic Focus: Herzing University has been offering career-focused education since it was founded in 1965 as the first post-secondary school designed to prepare students for computer-related jobs. Today, the school leverages its technology roots to offer dozens of online degree programs in various disciplines, including healthcare, business, legal studies and public safety.
Featured HUB Resource: Herzing's Career Development department aims to gives students the tools they need to find a job after graduation, including resume and cover letter writing assistance, job search coaching and interview advice.
Healthcare Management at Herzing University-Brookfield
B.S. in Healthcare Management
HUK's Academic Focus: Herzing University-Kenosha supports the needs of nontraditional students by offering classes during the day and evening. The school has a variety of degree programs, in fields such as healthcare, business, technology and legal studies.
Featured Resource: The writing center at Herzing University-Kenosha helps students improve their composition skills, including the ability to create a thesis statement, find appropriate resources and edit what they write.
Healthcare Management at Herzing University-Kenosha
B.S. in Healthcare Management
RCCC's Academic Focus: Run on the institutional goals of learn, engage, innovate and lead, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College is dedicated to offering a sustainable education that enhances individual students, as well as the entire community. Whether students want to earn a degree or participate in continuing education, the school focuses on providing programs to help them meet the changing needs of the workforce.
Featured RCCC Resource: Rowan-Cabarrus Community College offers career services that include help with resumes, information on the local labor market and feedback on job interview skills.
Healthcare Management at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
A.A.S. in Healthcare Management Technology
Certificate in Healthcare Management Technology
Diploma in Healthcare Management Technology
UOPX's Academic Focus: The University of Phoenix-Arizona is dedicated to providing the skills, values and knowledge that students need to be prepared for the modern workforce. In addition to gaining expertise in their specific academic discipline, students can also develop their critical thinking, communication and collaboration skills through the school's online programs.
Featured Resource: Students of the online degree in healthcare management can learn from others through the school's mentoring program, which connects current students with alumni. This one-on-one mentoring can prepare students for educational and career success, and helps them build their professional network.
Healthcare Management at University of Phoenix-Arizona
B.S. in Health Management
UCF's Academic Focus: The faculty at the University of Central Florida's Department of Health Management and Informatics, in addition to teaching, add to the healthcare field's knowledge base through their research. Topics that the school's professors have published studies on include diabetes, schizophrenia, substance abuse disorders and safeguarding healthcare data.
Featured UCF Resource: The UCF Online Connect Center provides coaching to help students stay on track with their coursework so they can graduate on time. The Center also supports thedevelopment of career plans and goals.
Healthcare Management at University of Central Florida
B.S. in Health Informatics and Information Management
HUB's Academic Focus: Herzing University-Birmingham has a variety of degree programs, such as healthcare, business, technology and legal studies programs. These are designed to support nontraditional student's needs with flexible schedules and many online programs.
Featured HUB Resource: The Herzing University- Birmingham provides students with an academic advisor that remains with them from the start of their online degree in healthcare management program to the end.
Healthcare Management at Herzing University-Kenosha
B.S. in Healthcare Management
MWCTC's Academic Focus: Minnesota West Community and Technical College is a public community and technical college. Their technical programs focus on helping students develop the practical skills to begin successful careers in a variety of industries.
Feature MWCTC Recourse: They offer a service called LARC which stands for the Library & Academic Resource Center. LARC provides a number of resources including IT help desk, test proctoring, tutoring and other library services.
Healthcare Management at Minnesota West Community and Technical College
Management and Supervision in Healthcare, A.S.
HUA's Academic Focus: Herzing University- Akron looks to educate, support and empower all students for success in work, learning and engagement in their communities and global society. They promote an educational and workplace culture that fosters professionalism, respect for others, personal responsibility and integrity, caring, and civic and community engagement.
Featured HUA Resource: Students at the Herzing University-Akron have access to 24/7 counseling and support services - at no charge - through Ulifeline.
Healthcare Management at Herzing University-Kenosha
B.S. in Healthcare Management
CC's Academic Focus: Founded in 1888, Clarkson College delivers graduate, undergraduate and professional programs designed to help students meet their individual career goals, whether they are interested in changing careers, advancing in their current field or preparing to enter the workforce for the first time.
Featured CC Resource: Clarkson College's Writing Lab helps students with different aspects of writing assignments, from creating a thesis statement to APA formatting to organizing information.
Healthcare Management at Clarkson College
MBA in Healthcare Management
UMUC's Academic Focus: The University of Maryland School of Public Health not only offers degree programs to train students to enter the healthcare management field, but also opportunities to assist with research on topics like economics, sociology, public policy and organizational development. Some of this research is conducted through the school's Center on Aging, which tackles topics to help improve the lives of older individuals.
Featured UMUC Resource: The Help Center is available 24 hours a day for online students to receive assistance with software and devices.
Healthcare Management at University of Maryland-University College
Global Health Management Graduate Certificate
GCU's Academic Focus: With a religious foundation that dates back to its inception in 1949, Grand Canyon University claim that they create academic programs that are rooted in ethical decision making, integrity and commitment to God.
Featured GCU Resource: The Academic and Career Excellence Center can help students transition into the next stage of their life after graduation by helping them develop interviewing, networking and resume writing skills.
Healthcare Management at Grand Canyon University
MBA in Health Systems Management
MPA in Healthcare Management
LU's Academic Focus: Founded on the principles of affordability, accessibility and academic quality, Liberty University has been providing online education since the 1990s. Over the years, the school has grown exponentially and currently has over 500 online programs for students who want to earn degrees or certificates in a number of disciplines.
Featured LU Resource: Students who need to improve their writing skills can get help from the Online Writing Center, which allows them to submit papers for review and get feedback from experts.
Healthcare Management at Liberty University
MBA in Healthcare Management
DBA in Healthcare Management
Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Management
GWU's Academic Focus: George Washington University's healthcare management degree is designed through a partnership of experts in the School of Business and the School of Medicine. The program's custom-made curriculum provides the best of both disciplines through the input of faculty experts who understand the business of medicine.
Featured GWU Resource: Colonial Health Center's Self Help Library allows George Washington University students to easily access information to help them with their daily struggles. This online resource includes handouts on different topics related to emotional wellness, including self-care, stress management and mindful eating tips, as well as anxiety, depression and grief. Also, students who need additional help can get individual counseling through the Center.
Healthcare Management at George Washington University
MBA in Healthcare
Electives in business,law,public health and health sciences available
M.S.in Health Sciences in Clinical Operations and Healthcare Management
Graduate Certificate in Clinical Operations and Healthcare Management
TWU 's Academic Focus: TWUis a public institution primarily for women was founded in 2006 to address a nationally recognized need for leadership in civic affairs, volunteer organizations and corporate and entrepreneurial initiatives. Its missions is to prepare students for leadership and service through high quality undergraduate and certificate programs on campus and at a distance. education ignites potential, purpose and a pioneering spirit.
Featured TWU Resource: TWU offers a Write Site service which provides workshops and online writing instruction through an Online Writing Lab (OWL). Graduate students can receive up to four hours a week of appointment time
Healthcare Management at Texas Woman 's University
Post - Baccalaureate Certificate in Health Care Management
SNHU's Academic Focus: Southern New Hampshire University is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution that ensures their students are keeping pace with new technologies and professional requirements. The college prides itself on its mission to remain innovative in its delivery of higher education.
Featured SNHU 's Resource: Students have online access to the Shapiro Library's collection of books and journals,plus magazines,newspapers,white papers and e - books from leading databases.
Healthcare Management at Southern New Hampshire University
MS in Healthcare Management
RU's Academic Focus: RU is a private Jesuit university dedicated to educating men and women in making a positive impact in a rapidly-changing global society. They state that they encourage their students to seek truth, live purposeful lives, and continually examine and attempt to answer the question: "How ought we to live ? "
Featured SNHU 's Resource: This university provides online research guides, A to Z databases, Catalogs, E-journals and a EBSCOhost search via the E-reserves and Interlibrary Loan systems.
Healthcare Management at Regis University
Health Care Business Management graduate certificate program
DU's Academic Focus: Davenport University is a private, not for profit, universitythatprepares and transforms students to achieve the highest levels of academic performance, leading them to excel and advance in their chosen fields in the 21st century.
Featured DU Resource: DU offers online tutoring services for select courses and by appointment to registered students.
Healthcare Management at Davenport University
MBA,Health Care Management Concentration
Health Care Management Graduate Certificate
CUSP's Academic Focus: Founded in 1893 as a liberal arts university, Concordia University-St. Paul offers online degree programs that are specifically designed to create flexible learning opportunities for working adults.
Featured CUSP resource: Concordia's online students can receive research support by taking advantage of the 24/7 "chat with a librarian"feature on the library 's website.
Healthcare Management at Concordia University - Saint Paul
MBA in Healthcare Management
Whether you are studying on the graduate or undergraduate level, there are certain online degree in healthcare management program requirements you are expected to complete. In order to help you meet the challenges of managing the operations of a healthcare facility, online healthcare management programs are designed to give you leadership, communication, detail orientation, budgeting and scheduling skills. In addition, healthcare managers should have a deep understanding of patient care, quality assurance and control and the laws and ethics requirements.
To provide more specific information about what earning an online degree in healthcare management entails, this section includes a glimpse at program admission requirements, the common courses available and a timeline of how you'd generally progress in your studies.
How Long Does an Online Bachelor's Degree Program in Healthcare Management Take?
You can generally complete your online healthcare management degree program in four years, although some programs are set up to allow students to finish in about three years.
Requirements to Start
In order to be admitted into a healthcare management bachelor's degree program, you are expected to have a high school diploma or its equivalent and a specific minimum grade point average. Some programs may require you to have earned an associate degree to be admitted.
Why Earn a Bachelor's in Healthcare Management?
Healthcare management online programs are for those who want to gain the business skills needed to take a non-clinical managerial role in a healthcare setting. Earning a bachelor's in healthcare management can prepare you to enter the workforce or further develop your training and skills through a graduate program.
Years One and Two
You are introduced to the basics of healthcare management by taking coursework like medical law and ethics, healthcare reimbursement and human resource management. In addition, during this time, you take general education classes — such as English composition, mathematics and public speaking — so that you can develop well-rounded skillsets.
Years Three and Four
At this stage you can start to see how you could apply your online healthcare education to a healthcare management career. These last two years can allow you to concentrate on a specific area of the field or take elective courses that provide more in-depth information on the subjects that interest you — whether you want to gain expertise in health informatics, cultural issues in the healthcare field or law and ethics. Also, depending on the program, you may be required to complete an internship or capstone course in order to graduate.
How Long Does an Online Master's Degree in Healthcare Management Take?
Depending on the specific program, you can complete your online master's degree program in healthcare management in about two years. In some cases, you may be able to complete your degree program in one year.
Requirements to Start
You are expected to have earned a bachelor's degree, a minimum 3.0 grade point average and a certain score on the Graduate Record Exam or the Graduate Management Admission Test to be admitted.
Why Earn a Master's in Healthcare Management?
Generally if you pursue a master's degree program in healthcare management you have earned a bachelor's degree and want to gain advanced knowledge and business acumen in order to effectively run a healthcare facility.
Year One
During the first year of an online healthcare management master's degree program, you take core classes that are designed to give you a more detailed overview of the types of work you can be required to perform as a healthcare manager. This can help you get an idea of what area you would like to gain more expertise in as you pinpoint the type of job you'd like to pursue after graduation.
Year Two
This year of the online degree healthcare management program is dedicated to completing coursework related to your area of concentration, as well as any electives of your interest. In addition, if you are required to complete a capstone project or an internship, you would do this during the second year of your online healthcare management degree program.
After reading through the online degree in healthcare management program descriptions above, you may find that a healthcare management degree program is not the right choice for you. In other cases, you may decide that you want to study another discipline to complement your healthcare management coursework. The following are examples of similar degree programs for you to consider.
Since healthcare managers and administrators are complementary roles within a medical facility, if you earn a healthcare management degree you may choose to minor or double major in healthcare administration so you can expand your skills and knowledge. This way, as a healthcare manager, you not only understand how an entire organization runs, but also have expertise in how individual departments within a facility are run — which can help make you a more effective leader.
If you want to learn more advanced business concepts as you focus on your healthcare studies you may choose to add a business management second major or minor. This allows you to continue taking the intensive healthcare management courses needed to work in the field, while strengthening your business acumen through a deeper understanding of topics like marketing, financial management, accounting and business law.
Nonprofit organizations have their own unique procedures and challenges, so if you want to apply your healthcare expertise to this sector you may consider a double major or minor in nonprofit management. In these programs you learn about the role of the nonprofit sector in healthcare, as well as fundraising principles and nonprofit financial management.
After completing your rigorous online degree in healthcare management program, you may want to enter the workforce with confidence knowing you can land a job. Luckily, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 2018 and 2028, there's projected to be an 18 percent increase in the number of jobs available nationwide to medical and health service managers — a rate that's faster than the average of most other professions. This amounts to 71,600 new positions across the U.S. that are projected to be created during this timeframe. These new positions in the healthcare management field may include titles like hospital administrator, clinical manager, pharmaceutical project manager or health information manager.
Here's a closer look at the work you can expect to do when you enter this career.
From finances to informatics to staffing to scheduling, medical and health service managers are responsible for overseeing the daily functions of a medical facility. The specific duties of these positions may include:
In addition, these professionals work closely with doctors and other direct care professionals in order to monitor how patients and their families are being treated and provide whatever is needed to improve that care.
Although employers are increasingly expecting medical and health services managers to have earned a master's degree in order to be hired, many professionals can enter the field with a bachelor's degree. No matter which degree level candidates complete, employers prefer that they come to the table with some hands-on experience they gained in their programs. Depending on the type of job they are pursuing and the state they live in, medical and health services managers may be required to obtain a certification or license. Even if a certification is not required by the state, some employers prefer workers who have earned voluntary credentials from organizations like the American Health Information Management Association and the Professional Association of Health Care Office Management.
Offered by the Professional Association of Health Care Office Management, this credential helps professionals demonstrate experience, knowledge and skills in physician office management.
Healthcare managers who are involved in overseeing an organization's revenue cycle can earn this certification from the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management. In order to receive this designation, you must have expertise in areas such as credit and collections, revenue cycle management and front desk registration.
Dedicated and knowledgeable healthcare quality professionals can earn the National Association for Healthcare Quality's certification by demonstrating expertise in information management, quality measurement and improvement, and operational tasks related to patient safety.
The Certified in Healthcare Compliance designation, which is offered by the Health Care Compliance Association, is for professionals who have expertise in the legal obligations that healthcare organizations are required to adhere to. In order to receive this certification, healthcare managers must demonstrate knowledge of regulations and compliance processes.
Membership in professional organizations is a great way for you to connect with other healthcare managers and continue learning skills you may need to be effective in your job. The following are examples of some associations that you can join.