Considering going from ASN/ADN to MHA, or BSN to MHA and weighing the differences between nursing and health administration? Pursuing an MHA could represent a big step to transition out of a direct patient care role in nursing into broader administrative or leadership roles.

Current RNs may also consider a more nursing-focused master’s degree curriculum such as our Nursing Leadership and Administration programs (BSN to MSN or ADN to MSN options available). If your goal is to climb the ranks in your nursing department and qualify for jobs like Nurse Director or Chief Nursing Officer, this graduate-level pathway might be even better for you. You may also consider our public health master's in nursing program as an alternative.

In general, healthcare executives or administrators are responsible for directing and coordinating health services. Executives work closely with healthcare staff and business leaders to improve the delivery of healthcare for an organization.

Job descriptions and specific roles and responsibilities will vary by position, but typical duties include developing goals and objectives, ensuring compliance, supervising staff members, managing finances, managing budgets, represent the institution at board or investor meetings, and much more.

Healthcare management is the practice of administering the financial and operational aspects of delivering healthcare in hospitals, clinics, physician’s offices and other healthcare institutions.

Healthcare management professionals act as a bridge between clinicians and upper management, insurers, and other third parties to ensure patients receive safe, cost-effective care that complies with laws and regulations.

There is a lot of overlap in terminology between roles in healthcare management vs. healthcare administration. However, they are unique career paths requiring distinct sets of skills:

• Healthcare management. Healthcare managers deal in the overall operation of an organization. Their primary role is in leadership and the business side of healthcare.  Healthcare managers interact with stakeholders and other board members for organizational direction and planning, usually involves managing more than one department—or an entire clinic.
• Healthcare administration. Healthcare administrators are more concerned with day-to-day operations. An administrator’s focus is on daily staff management and administrative procedures within a department. Healthcare administrators usually report to healthcare managers, and work within individual departments as supervisors or manager support. They may be found in smaller, rural areas as office managers or other similar job titles depending on area, experience and availability.

Smaller healthcare institutions may merge the roles into single positions and use each term interchangeably, but bigger facilities will often specialize into unique roles and differentiate them more clearly in terms of management or administration.

Hospital administrators and other types of medical and health services managers most often need at least a bachelor’s degree, although master’s degrees are common in these roles and can be preferred by employers.

A Master of Science in Healthcare Administration equips you with the skills and knowledge to better qualify for upper-level administrative jobs.

Earn a master’s in healthcare administration, and you can potentially compete for jobs as a Medical and Health Services Manager.

The average annual salary for medical and health services managers is $134,440 per year ($64.64 per hour) nationally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).*

Learn more about how much you can make in healthcare administration.

Earning a master’s degree in healthcare administration can help you climb the ladder and qualify for managerial or administrative jobs in healthcare. Current bachelor’s degree holders in either allied health or patient care roles can choose a health administration degree to learn the administrative and leadership skills necessary to better qualify for upper-level jobs and take the next big step in their healthcare career.

With a Master of Science in Healthcare Administration, you could potentially compete for jobs in medical and health services management, including job titles such as health manager, clinical director, clinical manager, nursing home administrator, and health information management director. Titles can vary widely based on the job’s specific roles and responsibilities and associated healthcare department or discipline.

A master’s degree is more than training for the job—it’s training for your career. Earn an MHA and you can position yourself very well to advance from a day-to-day role executing healthcare processes into a big-picture role where you heavily influence those processes. The next step in your career is worth it!