Do you ever wonder who helps run and manage medical offices? Chances are, your primary care, specialty care, or clinic employes a health office manager to oversee the operations of the medical office. Unlike practitioners or doctors who oversee patient care, health office managers oversee the daily operations of a health office and its administrative staff to ensure support of office functions. Continue reading to learn more health office managers.
What is a Healthcare Office Manager?
Health office managers are administrative professionals who help manage the day-to-day operations of medical practices. Health office managers work closely with both administrative support professionals, practitioners, and clinical professionals to ensure offices function seamlessly.
What does a Health Office Manager do?
Daily tasks and responsibilities can vary depending on where health office managers work and the size of the practice they manage. At the core of their position is the supervision and execution of day-to-day tasks centered around running an office smoothly and efficiently. Some tasks include:
- Scheduling office staff
- Maintaining record keeping and organization standards
- Supervising administrative office personnel
- Ensuring safe and healthy patient practices
- Managing financial and inventory records for the practice
Where do Healthcare Office Managers Work?
Health office managers can be found working in small, medium, or large healthcare practices, clinics, and private practice offices. In some instances, health office managers can also work out of hospitals or larger healthcare clinics managing multiple practices at once.
Common places of employment include:
- Private practice provider offices
- Health group offices
- Healthcare clinics
- Specialty care provider offices
- Mental/behavioral health offices
How to Become a Healthcare Office Manager?
The path toward becoming a health office manager includes a combination of educational and work experiences. While there is no single path to becoming a health office manager, many people in the position have earned at least a bachelors degree or higher and have at least five years’ experience working in a health office. In some cases, health office managers also have additional academic or professionals’ certifications if working in a specialty care office setting.
- Graduate high school with your diploma or GED
- Graduate with a bachelor’s degree in healthcare or business administration.
- Gain at least three to five years’ experience working in a medical office.
- Earn additional academic or professional certifications.
Health Office Manager Career Outlook
Employment for health office managers is expected to increase faster than the national job growth rate between 2022 and 2032, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Within the next ten years, the industry is expected to add over 144,000 jobs for medical and health service managers.
Salary ranges for medical and health service managers vary by state, employer, and individual personal and professional experience. Medical office managers can expect to make between $40,000 to $80,000 per year, with indeed reporting an average salary of $62,575 per year.
If you’re interested in becoming a health office manager, the University of Providence provides educational opportunities in healthcare administration that provides students with the skills and understanding to serve in health office manager positions. In addition to these foundational education programs, post-bachelor educational certificate programs can help boost resumes and provide a more nuanced understanding of specialized roles or competencies.
