Healthcare management focuses on running the overall operations of a healthcare organization through disciplines like policy, accounting, and facilities management. Healthcare administration handles staffing needs by becoming familiar with medical research and treatments to understand staff demands and utilize personnel effectively. While the roles can be merged in smaller organizations, larger facilities typically require managers to have a healthcare management degree and administrators to specialize in staff management and departmental budgets. The document emphasizes understanding the distinct differences between these fields before choosing a specialization in healthcare management or administration.

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Healthcare Management vs Healthcare Administration:
Core Differences
By Dr.Mahboob Khan ,MHA,CPHQ,Phd
It can be easy to mix up the terms “healthcare management” and
“healthcare administration” because they look like they mean the same
thing. The more prestigious educational facilities in the country do not
help when they start using the two phrases interchangeably. While the
confusion between the two practices is understandable, that does not
change the fact that these are two very different aspects of the healthcare
industry.
The difference between administration and management is much like the
difference between sales and marketing. Both sales and marketing are
used to generate revenue for a company, but they accomplish that task in
two different ways. Sales is the face of a company that has the face to
face contact with clients and marketing attempts to expand the corporate
client base through advertising and other physical means. Marketing is
also much more interested in demographics than sales would be, where
sales would be much more interested in revenue numbers than
marketing.
The general difference between healthcare administration and healthcare
management is that management runs the healthcare organization and
administration handles the staffing. But within those two general areas
are several sub-areas of concern that require years of intense education
and experience to get right.

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Healthcare administration gets confusing because the people who run
larger healthcare facilities are often referred to as administrators. These
kinds of confusions make it extremely important that a professional
understands the differences between management and administration
before getting too deeply into their career. You may find that you have
chosen the wrong side and may have to restart your career to get it right.
When you get involved in healthcare management, you become
concerned with disciplines such as policy, accounting and facilities
management. In order to be competitive in their field, a healthcare
manager may choose to become specialized in accounting along with
healthcare to help develop the skills she needs to address the concerns of
her position. The healthcare manager is concerned with the overall
operation of the facility or network and leaves the day to day
management of staff to the administrator.
An effective healthcare administrator becomes familiar with the kind of
medical research or treatment her facility will be offering in order to
understand the staffing demands of her patients and company. She
spends time studying the methods used within her particular part of
healthcare so that she can understand the best ways to utilize the staff
and talent on hand.
A big difference between a healthcare manager and a healthcare
administrator is that most healthcare organizations require their
managers to have an educational background which is specific to
healthcare management. There are schools all over the country which
offer these very specialized kinds of curriculums and they can take
anywhere from two to four years to complete.
A professional who wants to study to be in healthcare administration can
get an MHA degree from an accredited university, or she can choose to
get an MBA that has a concentration in healthcare. Depending on what

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kind of administration the person chooses to get involved with, the
option of getting an MBA with a healthcare focus would probably be the
better choice.
When it comes to leadership skills and the need for good management
practices, both a manager and an administrator would benefit from these.
But the administrator would be better served by becoming familiar with
staff management procedures, while the administrator needs to become
adept at leadership skills.
The entire concept of separating healthcare administrator from
healthcare manager can be confusing. In many smaller healthcare
organizations, the two roles are merged together to help save on costs.
But when you decide to get into the healthcare industry, you need to
have a comprehensive understanding of each field before you choose the
one you will specialize in. Healthcare management deals with the big
business picture of a health organization, while the administrator runs
departments and is concerned with staff scheduling and departmental
budgets. Until you take the time to analyze both carefully, the confusion
between the two can become frustrating.
The best approach to take when trying to determine your career path is
to spend time with an educational counselor, or try to talk to people who
are already in the industry. Anyone with practical career experience will
be able to give you the advice you need to make the right decision.
For Queries Don’t hesitate to email at:
mahboob804@yahoo.co.in