health management

PROFILES 

Healthcare managers have a wide variety of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs). This allows them to adapt and overcome situations, help guide them in managing a successful organization, and make sure that goals/objectives of the organization are being met. Buchbinder & Thompson (2010) states, “The ability to learn and grow goes hand in hand with solving complex problems; job variety, depth, and breadth; and opportunities for growth and career advancement.” (p. 76). Being able to understand just what a healthcare manager does, their education, the KSAs they use every day, and what motivated to get them there are a part of their profiles and surprisingly, there are very similar themes throughout, but there’s all different themes from manager to manager. These profiles ranged from CEOs to entry level managers, to CFOs, and so on. Being able to review each profile and the how’s and why’s they were in their profession and how they got into their profession was eye-opening and allowed for more guidance when trying to determine what was needed to get the career that I eventually want to pursue. 

            One key theme that seems to be pretty similar throughout different positions are the decisions that have to be made. For example, budget approvals seem to be a very reoccurring theme throughout non-direct and direct care facilities. Parand et. al (2014) claims that budgetary accountabilities are one of the most important duties as a healthcare administrator. They oversee what the organization is spending their money on whether it’s compensation, technological expenses, organization repairs, continuing education for staff, etc. Almost every profile that was shared in the text states that budgeting/budgeting approvals are a key responsibility in their everyday work.  Another key theme that was determined was the ability to be flexible and have customer service skills. As a healthcare administrator, you are constantly working with people- maybe not direct patient care, but your staff. In order to interact with others, most of these profiles have determined that customer service is a must, but it’s definitely not easy. Also, most of these profiles started their career in the health care field while they were in school pursuing a bachelor’s degree or higher. Most participated in internships, volunteer work, or an entry-level job in which they were able to learn more about the field while they were studying to advance in the field. All profiles that were stated in the text at least had a bachelor’s degree or pursued a higher degree such as their master’s and/or PhD. This allowed them to advance and learn more about the field and to try and be the best manager they could be, even at just a bachelor’s degree. Also, most, if not all, had a mentor to help guide them and train them personally. These mentors usually ranged from former bosses, a professor, a colleague, etc. No matter who the mentor was, most profiles listed at least had someone to keep them on the right path and show them the ins and outs of the profession. Buchbinder & Thompson (2010) stated, “Shared knowledge and expertise help a young manager learn and grow in his or her knowledge and skills.” (p. 197). By having a mentor, this also allowed for doors to open. A common saying that is used in all professions is “it’s about who you know”, which is ultimately true. By having a mentor, the individual has someone who can open career doors for them with recommendation letters, suggestions on the job, etc. 

Challenges

            Challenges unfortunately arise in every career. Buchbinder & Thompson (2010) goes into depth about internal and external professional challenges. External challenges can vary from “cutbacks in reimbursements, intensifying regulations, and the changes that these regulations generate are seen as day-to-day challenges facing direct care organizations.” (p. 199). Hospitals are usually built on and around board members who ultimately make the final decisions. What they decide to do, for example, implementing new policies. This can be a significant challenge for a manager to implement something new and essentially, helping their staff adapt to these new policies. A significant external challenge that arises is competition. A city can have multiple hospitals or clinics, so as the manager, the challenge is trying to determine “what makes us stand out against other hospitals and/or clinics?” especially when almost every goal is to provide the best quality of care for their patients.

            Buchbinder & Thompson (2010) notes “organizational resources, staff cohesiveness and performance, coordination among staff, organization direction, and personal professional challenges” as internal challenges (p. 199). Staff shortages and employee turnover rates are a significant internal challenges for managers; unfortunately, these can be extremely costly, especially when trying to higher “specialized personnel.” Internal challenges can also include personal challenges. As a manager, you are trying to meet deadlines, living up to expectations of those who are higher than you, making sure that the objectives/goals of the organization are being met which can be extremely stressful on the individual. Myrtle (2018) recognizes vision as a challenge. Myrtle (2018) states, “Hamm points out that the real job of a leader is to inspire the organization to take responsibility for creating a better future.” (para. 6). This can ultimately be a challenge in the sense that they’re trying to keep everyone happy, advancing the organization, inspiring the staff to be the best that they can possibly be to achieve determined goals and objectives of the organization. Buchbinder & Thompson (2010) states, “… young and mid-career managers wrestle with the challenge of balancing family and career, a pressure felt particularly by many female managers.” (p. 199). They’re also facing the challenge of advancement opportunities within the organization, or even, going to a new organization which results in almost starting over.  

Growth

            In the healthcare field, there is constantly going to be growth within this profession. Buchbinder & Thompson (2010) lists a few areas of growth which include: information technology and data management, performance improvement/quality/patient safety, clinical leadership, customer service skills, and more. 

            As the healthcare field grows, so does the growth of information technology and data management. Buchbinder & Thompson (2010) states, “as the healthcare industry moves to greater use of electronic and computer-driven information technologies and clinical technologies, there are greater opportunities for managers with detailed knowledge, understanding, and skills in managing data as well as in designing and maintaining clinical and financial information systems.” (p. 200). EMRs and EHRs are a somewhat recent technology that has been implemented all throughout hospitals and clinics throughout the nation to help keeping patient data safe, transferring patient information quickly and safely, and being able to keep all records in one place rather than having papers that could get lost easily. This is just one of the many technologies that have been introduced to the field and continue to improve every day. 

            Challenges are a part of every day life, professionally, personally, they are there in every aspect. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 states, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…” We are faced with challenges every way we turn, but God doesn’t give us anything that we can’t handle. He’s given us the abilities to persevere and push through each challenge and it only makes us stronger and more knowledgeable which overall helps us to become the better version of ourselves. This especially applies to the professional field. Challenges allow us to see what we can handle effectively and what areas we need to work on the most, challenges are stressful and frustrating, but a must.