Career in Health Care

Introduction: Health care management is a huge, complex, and ever-changing field. This is an exciting time for health care management. Health care is changing more rapidly than almost any other field. The field is evolving in terms of how and where care is delivered, who is providing those services, and how that care is financed. Last 2 year have been years of dramatic changes. The growth and sudden interest in the health care business can be attributed to many factor, one of the most strong of which is the strong Indian economy. India's rapid growth has brought about a 'health transition' in terms of shifting demographics, socio-economic transformations and changes in disease patterns.

Medical Tourism: Health care, which is a US$ 35 billion industry in India, is expected to reach over US$ 75 billion by 2012 and US$ 150 billion by 2017 according to Technopak Advisers in their report 'India Health care Trends 2008'. 'First World treatment' at Third World prices' is how industry sources define medical tourism in India.All sectors in India are undergoing a change from unorganized to an organized structure and so are also seen in health care. Till few years ago health care delivery was sole responsibility of Private practitioners and Doctor owned and run hospitals. Since it was also considered only as a social sector so almost all the large hospitals were either Government or charitable hospitals. Apollo Hospital started the trend of corporate hospitals others followed. There has been a large gap after first corporate hospital and the trend of corporations in health care delivery in India. Today industry is moving rapidly towards organized sector and more so towards corporations of health care delivery.
Hospitals and nursing homes are growing in large numbers. The medical staff working in these hospitals find very little time to handle non-medical day-to-day administrative affairs. Moreover, handling of such tasks requires management and professional skills which need constant devotion and up-gradation. It is very difficult for doctors to spare time for such things.
MBA seems to be the most sought after post graduation option nowadays. So, if you are a doctor you must have contemplated this choice while thinking of MD or MS. There are many management specializations for medical students. If you are confused whether to change your profession as a doctor and become a manager then you should follow your aptitude. If you are very good as a doctor then you should pursue a MD or MS in the area of your interest. Or else, if you have good managerial skills then very well go for MBA where there is a lot of scope for you. Doctors who go into management can find great jobs in hospital management and administration. There are big medical electronic companies like Philips or GE which would absorb MBA grads with a background of medicine. These companies develop products and services which can best be done by doctors. Besides, there is tremendous scope for clinical research.
Courses: There are a number of courses being offered by different institutions. Most of the courses in hospital administration and management are offered at the post-graduate level. The duration of the course varies from one year to two years. However, some courses are also belonging offered at graduate level.
Personal attributes: The nature of the job requires a number of qualities and essential traits. The person should have decision making skills based on up-to-date management principles and techniques. One should also be well versed with financial forward planning and should be responsible enough for the maintenance of the building.
Eligibility: The nature of the job requires management professionals and not doctors per se. Therefore, not only doctors and Para-medicos, but ordinary graduates, too, can opt for the courses and enter the field. The administrative setup in large hospitals is generally categorized into two - medical and non - medical administrations. Medical administration is handled by doctors but non-medical administrative setup does not require any technicality. It is in this field that more and more graduates are entering the field. So the minimum eligibility in such courses is graduation.

Selection criteria: Selection in most of institutions offering such courses is through a common entrance examination. The common entrance examination is followed by either Group Discussion and/ or Personal Interview. Aspirants having good score in graduation have a favorable chance in such common entrance examination. The nature of the entrance examination is purely non-academic oriented and is aimed to check general awareness and management skills.

Basic structure of a health care management course:

Health care organization
Health care informatics
Accounting for health care organizations
Financial management of health care organizations
Managed health care
Health services research
Ethics of health care
Health care policy
Health care administration
Institutes conducting these courses are particular about one aspect making necessary modifications in the syllabus as per the requirements of the health care industry. Besides theory and internship at hospitals, a special five-week course has now been added at TISS wherein students visit emerging areas like health care consultancy firms and TPAs.
Job Opportunities & Career Scope: An education in health care management can take you in many different and exciting directions. In addition to more traditional careers in health care management, graduates work in many other areas including: pharmaceutical companies, health insurance companies, public health agencies, management consulting, banks and other financial institutions, long-term care facilities, professional societies and state and Federal agencies.
As a sector that is driven by need, health care has been fairly recession-proof. India acquired the reputation of 'First world treatment at Third-world prices', making it a hot spot for medical tourism. At last count, the industry in India was estimated at $ 35 billion. It is however, expected to eventually feel the pinch. Dr Aashish Contractor, Head, Preventive Cardiology and Rehabilitation, Asian Heart Institute, explains, "Health care involves a lot of elective procedures, which one does not necessarily have to do. I think ultimately, recession might affect areas that do not deal with life-threatening problems, like cosmetic surgery or routine health check-ups for instance, which people believe they can postpone."
A K Jain, Executive Director, Ipca Laboratories, asserts, "Pharma has been recession-proof so far, because medicines are a must. You cannot delay treatment if it's a serious situation. In fact because of lifestyle-related health problems, like stress, there will be more business." So, pharma companies can capitalize on this situation because production is now cost-effective due to lowered prices."
Placements: On-campus placement is provided to post-graduates in hospitals administration and management. Premier institutes running courses for hospital administration and health care management across the country vouch that it was never so good for their students what with various health organizations now making a beeline at campus interviews.
A top favorite among health care recruiters, TISS had nearly 90 per cent of its students taken up within three days of its week-long placement program held in January 2002.
Some corporate bigwigs who you can be employed with are:
Apollo Hospital Enterprise Ltd
Wockhardt Hospitals
Fortis Health care
Max Health care
Manipal Health Systems
Care Hospital

15 the best places to study health care management:

The Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai:T ISS offers a variety of undergraduate / Post-Graduate / Ph.D / M.Phil. / Certificate and Diploma courses.
The Diploma in Hospital Administration is offered by the School of
Health Systems Studies, and fulfills the specific needs of hospitals.
Master of Health Administration
Master of Hospital Administration
Indian Institute of Health Jaipur, Rajasthan: Two-Year Full-Time, Post Graduate Program (PGP) with concentrations in Hospital Management, Health Management and Pharmaceutical Management, admissions through management aptitude test (MAT)
The Apollo Hospitals spread in different locations of the country.
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
Faculty of Management Studies University of Delhi, Delhi: Three year MBA Health Care Administration at Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi.
National Institute of Health and Family welfare, New Delhi
Punjab University, Chandigarh
Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences Mesra, Ranchi, Jharkhand
Symbiosis Centre for Health Care Pune, Maharashtra: B.Sc and Post Basic Courses from Symbiosis International University at Pune, Symbiosis International University Courses: (a) B.Sc (Nursing); (b) Post Basic(Nursing)
SNDT Women's University, Mumbai
Indian Institute of Health Care Administration, Chennai
Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi
Kasturba Medical College, Manipal: MBA at Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Hospital Administration and Health Care, admissions through Management Aptitude Test (MAT), Manipal University, Manipal Institute of Management offers MBA in Hospital Administration and Health Care Management.
NIMS, Hyderabad
Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune
Institute of Clinical Research India (ICRI): a leading institute in clinical research studies, has announced the launch of its health care division - ICRI Health-to focus on imparting education in health care services, covering both medical tourism and hospital operations management. ICRI Health will launch the two-year MBA course in health care management at its six existing campuses in the country.
To tap the growing demand of the Indian health care industry, the Kovai Medical Centre Research and Educational Trust, Coimbatore has tied up with Philadelphia's Saint Joseph's University to offer an 8 month Master's program in health and hospital administration. They will have observational trips with practical training at US-based hospitals. The tuition fee of the course is Rs 4.34 lakh.
It excludes travel, boarding and lodging costs in the United States and Coimbatore.
Vice-Chancellor of Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) B.A. Vivek Rai inaugurated 12 health science distance education courses, which the KSOU will offer in partnership with Father Muller Charitable Institutions, Mangalore. Of these, four each are certificate and diploma courses, and the rest postgraduate diploma courses.
Reasons to Pursue a Career in Healthcare Management:
Making a Difference/Social Mission: Decisions made by health care executives can help improve life for hundreds, even thousands of people every day. Health care executives have a sense of social mission, they deeply care about the people they work with and serve.
Excellent Earning Potential: Students pursuing health care management careers have excellent earning potential.
Management and Advancement Potential: There is an excellent career ladder and many people also take on roles in different sectors of the field over the course of their careers.
Visible and Valued Role in the Community: Health care executives typically are highly respected members of their communities.
Continual Self Improvement: Health care management is a career that values continual self improvement and education, and most employers encourage continued professional development. Many organizations often support tuition remission or in-service training for new skills. Innovation and continuous learning will be a part of the job from the day you start
Hospital administrators are in great demand. In fact, they are the most sought after professionals in the health care sector today after doctors.