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Health Care Management

A program that prepares individuals to develop, plan, and manage health care operations and services within health care facilities and across health care systems. Includes instruction in planning, business management, financial management, public relations, human resources management, health care systems operation and management, health care resource allocation and policy making, health law and regulations, and applications to specific types of health care services.

Types of Degrees Health Care Management Majors Are Earning

People majoring in Health Care Management may pursue degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	66
Associate’s Degree	2,039
Bachelor’s Degree	11,624
Master’s Degree	14,236
Doctor’s Degree	381

What Health Care Management Majors Need to Know

Coursework for Health Care Management emphasize a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Health Care Management graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

According to O*NET, a major in Health Care Management emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Administration and Management — Importance 4.7 / 5; level 5.5 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.4 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 5.5 / 7.
• Personnel and Human Resources — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.
• Education and Training — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 5.5 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

Skills built by a Health Care Management program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4 / 7.
• Complex Problem Solving — Importance 4 / 5; level 3.5 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Monitoring — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.

Abilities

Innate abilities most relevant to Health Care Management careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Inductive Reasoning — Importance 4 / 5; level 4 / 7.
• Speech Clarity — Importance 4 / 5; level 4 / 7.
• Problem Sensitivity — Importance 4 / 5; level 4 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Health Care Management graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.6 / 7
Working with Computers	4.6 / 7
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards	4.5 / 7
Coaching and Developing Others	4.5 / 7
Getting Information	4.5 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.4 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.4 / 7
Analyzing Data or Information	4.4 / 7
Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others	4.3 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.3 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Health Care Management professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
MEDITECH Medical and Practice Management MPM Suite	Medical software	—
Medical procedure coding software	Medical software	—
Kodak Dental Systems Kodak SOFTDENT Practice management software PMS	Medical software	—
eClinicalWorks EHR software	Medical software	—
Alteer Office	Medical software	—
IBM Notes	Electronic mail software	—
Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne	Enterprise resource planning ERP software	—
TeleTracking PreAdmit-Tracking	Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software	—
Apache Pig	Data base management system software	—
Google Sheets	Spreadsheet software	—
PCC Pediatric Partner	Medical software	—
Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition	Business intelligence and data analysis software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Health Care Management graduates include:

• Laboratory Administrative Director (Lab Admin Director)
• Hospice Director
• Rehabilitation Director
• EMS Coordinator (Emergency Medical Services Coordinator)
• Nursing Director
• Respiratory Therapy Director
• Health Manager
• Health Care Manager
• Hospital Administrator
• Hospice Administrator
• Health Care Administrator
• Cancer Center Director
• Health Administrator
• Medical Practice Manager
• Medical Records Supervisor

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Health Care Management graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Bachelor’s degree	46.4%
Master’s degree	21.4%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	10.7%
Postsecondary certificate	7.1%
Some college courses	3.6%
Post-doctoral training	3.6%
First professional degree	3.6%
High school diploma or equivalent	3.6%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Health Care Management?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 79.2% of Health Care Management degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	22,441	79.2%
Men	5,906	20.8%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Health Care Management graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	12,205	43.1%
Asian	2,187	7.7%
Hispanic or Latino	4,102	14.5%
Black or African American	6,211	21.9%
American Indian / Alaska Native	196	0.7%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	106	0.4%
Two or More Races	939	3.3%
Race Unknown	1,740	6.1%
International Students	661	2.3%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Health Care Management Graduates Earn?

The U.S. Department of Education tracks median earnings of Health Care Management graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Earnings tend to climb steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$36,041
4 years	$36,054
5 years	$40,847

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $40,847 — roughly 13% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Health Care Management Programs

Online study is tracked by IPEDS for Health Care Management. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Associate’s	53	19
Bachelor’s	180	81
Master’s	205	77
Doctoral (Research)	13	6

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Health Care Management Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, Health Care Management graduates earn a median of $36,054 four years after completion — about 5% below the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000). On earnings alone, this program does not show an income premium over the baseline; non-financial outcomes (career interests, certification requirements, advancement potential) are typically the stronger argument for fields in this range.

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Health and Medical Administrative Services	90,166
Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller	11,963
Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician	11,828
Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder	10,171
Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical Secretary	7,771
Hospital and Health Care Facilities Administration/Management	3,494
Health and Medical Administrative Services, Other	3,168
Medical Office Management/Administration	2,900
Health Information/Medical Records Administration/Administrator	2,781
Health Services Administration	2,629
Community Health and Preventive Medicine	2,571
Medical/Health Management and Clinical Assistant/Specialist	1,195

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.