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Key Takeaways
- A master’s in healthcare administration, or M.H.A., is a graduate degree that serves professionals pursuing careers on the business side of healthcare.
- This degree usually takes two to three years to complete, with part-time and full-time tracks available. Programs may take place online or on campus.
- Healthcare administration master’s candidates can specialize in areas such as finance, human resources and leadership.
- Coursework for a master’s in healthcare administration covers topics like change management, finance and budgeting, healthcare law and ethics, and health policy.
- M.H.A. degree holders can pursue careers as medical and health services managers, nursing home administrators and more.
If you’re interested in advancing in your healthcare administration career, consider grad school. A master’s in healthcare administration (M.H.A.) can prepare you for senior leadership roles focused on improving healthcare delivery and enhancing organizational effectiveness.
An M.H.A. degree can help you qualify for well-paid, high-level job opportunities in hospitals, clinics, nursing facilities and other healthcare sector organizations such as pharmaceutical and insurance companies. This degree helps you build management and leadership skills that you can take with you to any job in healthcare administration.
If you want to make a difference in the healthcare industry from the business side of things, keep reading to discover how to earn an M.H.A. We’ll cover admission requirements and common courses, explain what accreditation to look out for and explore several careers you can pursue after you graduate.
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What Is Healthcare Administration?
As the population ages and advancements in research and technology lead to new treatment options, the healthcare sector is booming. This fast-evolving field needs competent managers and administrators as much as it needs the clinicians who provide direct patient care.
Healthcare administration is a broad field that covers various behind-the-scenes roles that help keep the healthcare system running smoothly. Professionals in this field can specialize in areas like operations, finance, logistics, compliance and human resources.
This field attracts individuals who combine a passion for healthcare with strong analytical, organizational and leadership skills. Some people transition into administration positions from the clinical side of the healthcare industry, while others may come from business backgrounds.
What Is a Master’s in Healthcare Administration?
A master’s in healthcare administration builds the skills and knowledge essential for executive and managerial positions in the field. The curriculum includes finance and budgeting, management strategies, legal and ethical issues, health policy, employee relations, human resources, problem solving and ensuring that patients receive the proper care.
Students can choose on-campus or online master’s in healthcare administration programs. This degree usually entails between 36 and 45 credits and takes two to three years to earn, but exact program length varies depending on the curriculum and whether you study full time or part time. Some accelerated programs take as little as 15 to 16 months to complete.
Admission Requirements for a Master’s in Healthcare Administration
Each program master’s in healthcare administration program determines its own admission requirements, but typical standards include:
- Application
- Bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration or a related field
- Transcripts from previous degrees or coursework
- Minimum GPA (typically 3.0)
- Letters of recommendation
- Personal essay
- Statement of purpose
- Résumé
Common Courses in an M.H.A. Degree Program
Below we list a few common courses for M.H.A. degree programs. Keep in mind that your program’s courses may vary since each college determines its own curriculum.
Data-Driven Healthcare
This course explores the types of data used in healthcare organizations and how to leverage this data in the decision making process. Students learn about computing architectures, data creation and management, and methods for interpreting and analyzing metrics.
Change Management and People Leadership in Healthcare
This course looks at how human resource management fundamentals apply in healthcare environments. Students learn about recruiting and retaining employees, training and education, evaluating employee performance, discipline and dismissal considerations, strategic planning and essential communication techniques for healthcare leadership.
Financial Management in Healthcare Organizations
This course covers the financial aspects of healthcare management, such as terminology, financial forecasts, spreadsheet applications, and budget development and management. Enrollees also learn to interpret financial statements and calculate return on investment.
Healthcare Operations Management
Students in this course develop analytical skills to improve and integrate operational processes. Coursework covers research methods, quality management, systems analysis, data analytics and data visualization. Learners use design and construct models, create spreadsheets, and analyze and report results.
Health Policy
This course covers everything you need to know about policy making and politics as they pertain to the healthcare field. Coursework explores political concepts, models of policy making systems, policy impact on leadership and administration, and how policies affect an organization’s objectives and goals.
Capstone Experience or Internship
Most healthcare administration master’s programs require a capstone project, an internship or both. These experiences allow you to apply the knowledge gained from your master’s program in real-world settings. Projects may focus on research or solving real-world problems in a local medical facility or healthcare organization.
Specializations for Master’s Degrees in Healthcare Administration
You may be able to select a specialization or concentration for your master’s degree. Offerings vary among programs, but below are a few typical specializations for M.H.A. degrees.
Finance
This concentration explores business valuation, mergers and acquisitions, and advanced financial statement analysis. A finance specialization may suit you if you plan to work as a risk and insurance consultant or in a similar leadership position in the health insurance industry.
Public Administration
A public administration concentration covers public policy analysis, healthcare administration, fundamentals of public administration, and policies and initiatives of community economic development. If you plan to work as a medical and health services manager, community health consultant or public health educator, you might specialize in public administration.
Human Resources
A human resources specialization focuses on human resource development and management, compensation and employment issues, and workforce planning. This concentration may be a good option if you plan to work as a human resources manager in a healthcare setting or as a director of nursing, practice administrator or corporate health director.
Strategic Management
Specializing in strategic management involves a focus on executive leadership and management concepts, organizational design, workforce planning and employment, and strategic management and marketing. This may be a good option if you plan to work as a medical and health services manager, operations manager or administrative services manager.
Supply Chain Management and Logistics
This specialization focuses on logistics, supply chain management, total quality management and operations management. With a supply chain management and logistics concentration, expect to learn how to bring an idea for a healthcare product or service to fruition. This may be a good concentration if you plan to work as a logistics programs director or production manager in the healthcare field.
Leadership
This concentration covers team building skills, financial processes, employee management and strategies for improving patient care. Since leadership skills are essential to any healthcare administration role, a leadership specialization can benefit any career path in this field.
Accreditation for M.H.A. Degrees
The Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) provides accreditation for on-campus and online healthcare administration master’s degree programs. CAHME measures programs against a set of competency-based standards to ensure they provide quality education. Accreditation signifies that a program has met or exceeded those standards.
The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) provides accreditation for public health programs. Some M.H.A. degrees exist within public health departments, in which case they may be accredited by CEPH instead of or in addition to CAHME.
What Can You Do with an M.H.A.?
An M.H.A. degree can open up several strong career paths, including those listed below. While a bachelor’s degree is the minimum education required for each of these roles, employers may prefer or require applicants to hold a master’s in healthcare administration or a related field. We sourced salary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and Payscale.
Medical or Health Services Manager
Median Annual Salary: $110,680
Minimum Required Education: Bachelor’s degree
Job Overview: Medical and health services managers may also be called healthcare administrators or healthcare executives. These professionals manage medical services in specific departments or entire facilities, depending on their role. Medical and health services managers determine and implement rules, goals and processes for the departments or facilities they oversee.
Nursing Home Administrator
Average Annual Salary: Around $99,600
Minimum Required Education: Bachelor’s degree
Job Overview: Nursing home administrators oversee the day-to-day operations of nursing homes and nursing care facilities. They hire and train staff, manage admissions, ensure patients are receiving the best care, negotiate contracts, oversee building maintenance, and develop and manage budgets.
Hospital Administrator
Average Annual Salary: Around $95,000
Minimum Required Education: Bachelor’s degree
Job Overview: Hospital administrators handle hospitals’ everyday operations. They hire and oversee staff, develop plans for improvement, oversee expenditures and budgets, allocate funds, ensure compliance with local and federal laws, and ensure the hospital operates according to its goals, vision and values.
Practice Administrator
Average Annual Salary: Around $78,800
Minimum Required Education: Bachelor’s degree
Job Overview: Practice administrators oversee the operation of medical practices. They recruit physicians, nurses and other personnel to ensure the practice is adequately staffed. They also negotiate contracts, prepare training and staffing budgets, address customer concerns and make sure the practice has everything it needs to run properly.
Director of Nursing
Average Annual Salary: Around $98,400
Minimum Required Education: Bachelor’s degree
Job Overview: Directors of nursing oversee the operations and performance of nursing units. They supervise and direct the work of nursing staff, ensure patients receive quality care, provide training to staff, conduct performance evaluations, ensure compliance with local and federal laws, and perform various other tasks within their departments.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About M.H.A. Degrees
Is a master’s degree in healthcare administration worth it?
Whether a master’s in healthcare administration is worth it for you depends on your career goals. If you want to move into a high-level management position in healthcare administration, then yes, this degree may benefit your career.
What degree is best for healthcare administration?
The best healthcare administration degree for you depends on your desired role and where you want to work. For many jobs in the field, a healthcare administration associate degree or a bachelor’s in healthcare administration is enough to get your foot in the door. More advanced positions may require a master’s degree in healthcare administration.
What is the difference between an M.H.A. and an M.B.A. in healthcare administration?
An M.B.A. provides in-depth knowledge of business processes that apply to many different industries. Choosing a healthcare administration concentration as part of your M.B.A. degree equips you to apply those business processes in a healthcare setting. An M.H.A. includes many of the same business concepts as an M.B.A., but provides deeper insight into the healthcare industry’s specific needs and challenges.
How much does a master’s in healthcare administration cost?
Tuition prices for master’s in healthcare administration programs typically mirror those of other graduate programs. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that graduate tuition rates averaged $12,596 a year at public institutions and $28,017 at private schools as of the 2020–2021 academic year.
How much can you make with a master’s in healthcare administration?
A master’s in healthcare administration can lead to many different occupations with varying salaries, but Payscale reports an average annual salary of about $83,000 for professionals with M.H.A. degrees. Medical and health services managers—a broad category that includes a wide array of healthcare administration roles—are among the most highly paid professionals in the field, with the BLS reporting an average annual wage of over $110,000 for these workers.
