The Overlooked Role Powering Patient Safety and System Efficiency in Healthcare

In healthcare, a certain type of role tends to get the most attention: those involving direct patient care. People love their doctors, their nurses. They think very little about who’s working behind the scenes to ensure that the trains run on time. Administrative and management roles might be less glamorous than bedside positions, but they are at least just as important.

Arguably, someone considering a medical and health services manager position might touch even more lives than someone who is working directly with the patients. After all, their choices can impact entire communities, and they make them every day.

In this article, we take a look at the overlooked role powering patient safety and efficiency in healthcare. Read on to learn more.

What Is a Medical and Health Service Manager? 

The medical and health service manager focuses primarily on operations. In a world of pristine scrubs and lab jackets, this is still the most white-collar job in a hospital setting. The focus here is on efficiency rather than specific healthcare outcomes.

Why is that important? Well, because in practice, this is more a business position than it is a healthcare one. The medical and health services manager is making choices that are designed to optimize hospital or clinic operations, but they’re doing it through a mindset that could be applied to any other business.

They develop systems. They use data to refine procedures. They focus always and ever on greasing the wheels to ensure smooth and consistent operation.

Who is this Job for? 

That’s a good question because the answer is a little different from that of most healthcare positions. For someone to consider becoming a doctor or a nurse, they might need to think about their bedside manner, their compassion, their empathy, their emotional intelligence—on top of their clinical expertise. 

They need to care not just about the illnesses that they’re treating, but, more importantly, the people that they’re seeing.

In this management world, the calculation is a little bit different. Yes, because this is healthcare, the people will always still be important, and they should factor into the health services manager’s decision-making. 

However, the way that they think about their choices will ultimately be a little different. They aren’t necessarily focused on how an individual experiences the healthcare system. They’re focused more on scalability and refinement. 

The question isn’t, “How can we help Mr. Bradshaw?” It’s, “How can we do more, better, with the same resources we have right now?”

It’s a logistical position, a technical position, a job built on critical thinking more than empathy.

What Does a Medical Health Services Manager Do? 

Specific tasks will, of course, vary from job to job, but the basic idea is operations. How is a clinic, or an office, or an entire department even managing day-to-day tasks? 

Keep in mind that any business—be it McDonald’s or a hospital—has systems that allow for organized scalability. Doctors, nurses, receptionists are all following a specific set of guidelines that allows them to work with organized purpose. 

These processes are called systems, and they are the same type of magic that allows McDonald’s franchises to generate millions of dollars a year under the supervision of 16-year-olds.

Health managers might also participate in the hiring process. They might review department compliance. They’ll probably have lots and lots of meetings. 

When the hospital or clinic is working on a specific long-term project, the manager will likely oversee progress and meet regularly with project leaders to ensure that everything is on track.

Sometimes the work is very administrative in nature and will focus on budgeting and scheduling. Basically, it can involve any of the often unseen tasks that make hospitals effective.

How Do You Get this Job?

The first step is to get your bachelor’s degree. This will involve some form of healthcare administration, but different universities will allow you to specialize in everything from healthcare ethics to research, data analysis, system management, and so on. 

Once you’ve graduated with an appropriate degree, you’ll most likely begin your career with an entry-level position in some sort of administrative setting. Your responsibilities, to begin with, will be modest—involve budgeting, scheduling, communications, etc.

Because this is more of a business position than a customer care one, there will be opportunities for career growth—promotions that will give you new responsibilities and increase your salary. 

Most people will find that they can go the farthest with a graduate degree. Getting a master’s in healthcare administration will qualify you for high-level—even C-suite—positions within healthcare organizations. These jobs are certainly more competitive, but they also have a bigger impact on the community and can result in six-figure salaries.

Wondering if this job is right for you? If you are interested in a rewarding and impactful career path with ample room for growth, management positions could be an ideal fit. It’s a perfect way for people to make a difference in their communities without working in a clinical environment.