When people think of hospital staff, they usually think only of physicians, nurses, or other caregivers. These healthcare professionals are a part of the staff needed to manage an organized hospital. However, behind the scenes, there is a hidden and extremely important role in health services delivery — medical administration. The medical administrator is responsible for providing the most basic of social services, the care of dependent people at one of the most vulnerable times in their lives.
The goal of a medical administrator is to make a positive difference in the lives of people. I have worked 10 years in the billing department of a medical office and my goal and expectation of this program are to understand the role of medication administration in a healthcare unit.
I am looking forward to understanding the rapid and continuous change in the medical administration through this program. The new environment of medical administration is loaded with government regulations, massive rules, and complex structures. I have learned through my experience that medical administration covers many areas, including acute care, hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, long-term care facilities, physicians’ offices, home health agencies, and managed care organizations.
The most important of these are hospitals or acute care centers. As hospitals have become large and complex organizations, I want to learn from this program how technology has changed things at a great rate. In my department, I was considered good in financing but as hospitals’ financing has moved from self-pay to a complicated third-party reimbursement system, I want to study new development in the field. The number of uninsured patients is gradually increasing. The task for hospitals to remain profitable is daunting. Another important factor is that governments have taken an increasingly larger role in healthcare delivery.
Surprisingly, healthcare remains established; growing industry and health services will continue to be in demand for a long time to come. The populations of countries are steadily aging and life expectancies are gradually increasing because of medical and technological advancements. According to Potter (2009), for a successful hospital medical administrator needs to understand how to apply factual knowledge to many complex scenarios.
I have learned from my 10-year working experience that a medical office has a great role in solving the problems of patients. Today’s medical administration faces many challenges. Shortages in technical and extremely specialized staff make competence just out of reach and this shortage is increasing because of rapid industry growth and reduced numbers of new graduates. Another challenge faced by medical administration is that a key group of stakeholders — the physicians — are often not directly employed by the organization they work for. Physicians are directly responsible for both cost and performance and yet, in most cases, are not actual employees of hospitals.
The matter becomes even more complex at academic medical institutions, not for profit hospitals and health systems, and freestanding clinics. Hiring and retention of staff for important positions are daunting tasks. Maintaining and growing market share is another subject of concern. Cost control has become more than a challenge. In a situation where technology is ever-changing and extremely costly, cost management takes enormous skill.
Add to this the responsibility to care for communities, often with little or no reimbursement for the services provided, and a formula for potential financial disaster has been created. I am hoping that the program will help me in understanding all these issues of medical administration.
I have learned from experience that the title of medical administration is a broad category. There are four key areas of specialty for medical administration — financial and treasury functions, operational and administrative functions, information management and service functions, and managed care organizational functions. The two most crucial functions are finance and operations.
I loved my job in the billing department because I think financial management of a hospital is the most interesting category. Harris (2009) says that financial performance is a critical part of management in hospitals. Successful leaders should possess traditional management skills and interpersonal skills. They must be creative thinkers who can develop inventive solutions to problems. They also must be capable of making decisions, establishing and meeting goals, incorporating change, and knowing how to make value-added contributions.
In conclusion, medical administration can be rewarding and fulfilling, but it does have its challenges. But if a person wants to work in an industry where he feels like he is making a difference and helping people, then healthcare maybe for him. And this is the reason I am applying for this program.
Works Cited
Harris, Marilyn (2009) Handbook of Home Health Care Administration, Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Learning, Sudbury, Massachusetts.
Potter, Brenda A. (2009) Medical Office Administration: A Worktext, Publisher: Elsevier – Health Sciences Division, New York.