Health Care Management

What is Health Care Management

Healthcare management is a field that specialises in the management of healthcare centres and clinics. A healthcare manager is not a healthcare professional and does not practice healthcare duties of any sort. A healthcare manager must look after the business operations in a health care centre. All over the world, we see health care expanding beyond hospitals. A lot of businesses and companies have taken hold over the healthcare sector. Hence, we need a professional to look after the affairs of such institutions.

In India, you can’t pursue healthcare management at the bachelor’s level. You could take up any field at the bachelor’s level and then take up an MBA in Healthcare management at the post-graduate level. You will be employed in hospitals and other such healthcare centres to look after the administrative and management duties.

Eligibility Criteria (UG & PG) of Health Care Management

For Undergraduates

The Healthcare management course is available only from the master’s level in India. Those wishing to pursue this course would have to enrol in colleges abroad. You could take up any course at the bachelor’s level. It will be of advantage if you have some background in the management field. Courses like Hospital management or business administration would be ideal at the bachelor’s level, but it is not compulsory. 

For Post-graduates

These are some of the basic criteria the students must keep in mind for Healthcare management course.

They are as mentioned below:

• The student should have completed 10th and 12th from a recognised board.
• At the 10+2 level, the student should have scored a minimum of 50%. The mark criteria differ from each college.
• The candidate should have a basic degree from any field.
• A minimum of 50% is expected from the applicant at the UG level.
• Entrance exams are the deciding factors here. Those who score well will be able to apply in the top management schools and institutes.

These are just a few requirements. The colleges have their own rules and specifications for the admission process. The college administrations have the final say in the admission. 

Healthcare management Entrance Exams

Healthcare management is available only at the postgraduate level; these exams apply only to that field. All India Management Entrance exams are applicable for this course. Here are a few of them:

CAT - Common Admission Test is conducted for enrolling students into the MBA program.  It is conducted by the IIM’s for admissions.

CMAT - Common Management Admission Test is considered to be eligibility criteria by many colleges. The students, who score well, get placed in the top institutes.

GMAT - Graduate Management Aptitude Test is conducted by the graduate management admission council. It is a computer test that tests the required skills in the field.

ATMA - AIMS test for management admissions is conducted to provide admission to the management programme. The scores obtained in this test are used as criteria by many colleges as eligibility for admissions. 

MAT - Management Aptitude Test is conducted by All India Management Association. It is a standard test for the management program.

XAT - XLRI aptitude test is conducted by Xavier school of management. It is conducted by the institute to screen students for the MBA program. 

These exams are conducted for the management students. Those wishing to take up MBA Healthcare management need to appear for these exams. Besides the above-mentioned exams, colleges have their entrance exams. These exams are usually followed by a Personal Interview round. 

Required Skillset for Health Care Management

Being a Healthcare manager can be extremely interesting and risky at the same time. You need to have certain skills if you wish to work in Healthcare management. A lot of them are skills that you acquire during your experience, but it is always good to develop and create such skills consciously

Leadership skills- The sole responsibility of a Healthcare manager is to lead his team. Being a leader means that you have to be able to get the work done without upsetting the team. 

You need to have the ability to delegate and bring out the best in them. A hospital employs a lot of professionals; hence you must have the ability to lead them and get the work done without creating problems. 

Organisation skills- Organisational skills and Organisation are extremely important.  You need to be able to use your resources, time and energy in the most effective way possible. Along with being organised, you should be disciplined. 

Problem-solving skills- Being a Healthcare manager means responsibilities. You are constantly posed with a lot of problems and queries. Hence you should have the ability to evaluate and prioritise the various issues and then provide calculated responses. 

Communication skills- This field requires you to regularly communicate with your team—both written and oral communication. You should be able to convey to the team with clarity.

Negotiation skills- If you can negotiate well, then a lot of problems that arise in this field can be solved. You need to be able to find a way in which both the parties benefit without losing much. If you can get things done your way, without implicating a lot of problems it would help a lot of people in the company.

Interpersonal skills- Interpersonal skills help you to empathise with others and relate to their point of view. You won’t be able to get your job done; if you portray yourself to be high and mighty, nobody will cooperate with you.  In healthcare, you come across a lot of people. A lot of people who are helpless and who require your help, you must know how to deal with such situations.

Ability to differentiate work and emotion- Being a Healthcare manager is not an easy task. Often you find yourself to be in the bad books. You need to be able to understand and differentiate your work and your emotions. You can’t let your emotions get the better of you. At the same time, you can’t have a cold approach with the employees; you need to be able to balance the whole act. 

The eye for detail- A Healthcare manager needs to be attentive to detail. The field that they work in involves a lot of risks. Small mishaps could lead to huge problems. They must be observant and be able to analyse the situation well.

These are just a few skills that are mentioned here. Working in the healthcare management sector holds a lot of responsibility. One small calculation and you could put the whole company at risk. You need to be extremely alert and attentive. You must be able to adapt to situations easily.  If you know how to be organised, attentive and empathetic, then this career will be the right path for you.