Read this article to gain insight into how to become a hospital administrator. We’ll highlight the steps you need to take to grow into a certified hospital admin.

Are you looking into how to get into hospital management? We’ll also discuss the education and skill requirements, average earnings, career outlook, and more.

Hospital Administrator Requirements

Hospital admins are integral to the clinical team that works hard behind the scenes. They contribute to the smooth running of medical facilities by ensuring high-quality patient care.

As an expert in this field, you’ll provide leadership and guidance regarding changing regulations, staffing needs, and technologies.

Hospital administration is one of the career paths that’s currently expanding rapidly.

More and more people are interested in joining the industry to benefit from its lucrativeness and work possibilities. If you’re practical and project-oriented, this career path will be ideal.

  • Who is a Hospital Administrator?

Who runs a hospital? A CEO, who is also a clinical expert, oversees the daily operations of a hospital by directing, planning, and coordinating medical services.

They may work closely with physicians, nurses, and other medical teams to provide outstanding clinical care.

Hospital admins typically work in the hospital. But they equally serve in hospices, rehabilitation centers, long-term care facilities, and other health-related settings.

A few of their duties include creating and maintaining healthcare policies, developing departmental goals and objectives, and performing quality assurance tests.

They may also create staff schedules, follow guidelines created by a governing board of trustees, plan budgets, determine rates for health services, etc., which are additional duties of these practitioners.

Procedures to Become a Hospital Admin

To join the admin staff in the hospital, you’ll need to pass through professional training, education, and real-world experience.

Each step is crucial to strengthening an individual’s knowledge and skillset. That way, they can tackle the numerous duties associated with the part.

Allow us to review hospital administration education requirements separately.

  • Get a High School Diploma or GED

You’ll need a secondary school education to pursue a career in this field. Such programs will help you build a strong foundation for college and prepare you for an exciting career.

During your high school studies, you’ll offer courses in science, computer science, math, and statistics.

You’ll also take classes in English, history, writing, literature, and social sciences. These courses will help you build strong oral and written communication skills.

Finally, it would be best if you took lessons in business admin to help you become familiar with the personal and business aspects of the clinical facility.

  • Obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in Hospital Admin

As with other medical careers, starting with a high school diploma may not guarantee your success in the industry. You’ll need to obtain an undergrad certificate in hospital admin from a certified institution.

A degree in related fields such as healthcare admin, human resources, marketing, public health, accounting, or public policy can also be an excellent start.

Most bachelor’s degree programs offer a concentration in health services management. They aim at equipping you with the foundational elements to help support your knowledge base and skill set.

Moreover, it will provide you with a solid framework in the core disciplines of the profession.

You’ll offer courses such as healthcare economics, legal aspects of health services, healthcare delivery systems, and quality improvement in clinical settings during your studies.

Others are healthcare laws and policies, health statistics and research methods, leadership and management in clinical settings, etc. It takes around four years to finish an undergrad study in this field.

  • Acquire Hands-On Experience

If you look through most hospital administration job requirements, you’ll discover a need for valuable work experience after your undergrad studies to succeed as a hospital admin.

Consider taking entry-level jobs, internships, or shadowing possibilities to get your feet wet.

Such work opportunities are available in several settings. These include insurance firms, long-term care facilities, public health agencies, outpatient facilities, and doctors’ offices.

By gaining valuable work experience, you’ll better understand what to expect. In addition to that, most MHA programs only accept candidates with hands-on experience.

Moreover, you’ll have an impressive resume that may help you get noticed by prospective employers.

  • Get Certification

An attestation of competence is an optional credential to enter this occupation. However, it is crucial to have one as it may add value to your resume and provide you with additional training.

Most employers prioritize candidates with such credentials because they demonstrate their industry skills and knowledge. It will also help you get hired, earn a higher salary, and be open to more advanced possibilities.

Some certifications you can obtain include CPCO, FACHE, CMM, CHAM, cHAP, CPHQ, and CPHRM. These qualifications are provided by nongovernmental agencies such as ACHE and PAHCOM.

Before you receive any of these attestations, certain conditions must be met.

These include holding at least a bachelor’s or master’s degree in hospital admin or related areas. You’ll also need to have valuable experience in the field and pass the professional test set by these agencies.

Certification Exams for Hospital Admins

The full details of these professional tests vary accordingly. So, it would be best to streamline your research on the specific credentials you wish to obtain.

For instance, FACHE certification exams consist of 230 multiple-choice questions. It’s designed to test your knowledge and ability to apply it to real-world scenarios.

Before writing the exams, you must meet the minimum academic requirement.

Additionally, you’ll need to pay an application fee of $250 and an exam fee of $225. Meanwhile, the CMM professional test consists of 200 multiple-choice questions to be answered in under three hours.

Before writing the test, you’ll need to pay an exam fee of $385 if you’re a PAHCOM member. Non-members will pay around $770.

After two years, you’ll be required to update your credentials, which come with unique demands.

Earnings of Hospital Admins

An excellent salary structure accompanies this medical field. You can be sure to smile at home at the end of every working day.

Based on the statistics provided by BLS in 2022, the average earnings of these practitioners are around $101,340 per year.

The profession is projected to increase work possibilities for graduates between now and 2031.

While true, how much you’ll make working as a hospital administrator depends on crucial factors.

These include your geographical location, level of education, years of work experience, workplace, and choice of specialty area. Therefore, you must weigh these factors before accepting a job offer for this position.

Indeed, a career in hospital administration can be a fulfilling option for individuals interested in healthcare management. However, interested candidates must have varying educational backgrounds and experience.

You may also need to understand the various ways of pursuing this career.

The above discussion shows the appropriate steps to become an expert in hospital administration. We hope you’ve found this article informative and educational.