What is Health Care Management?

Health Care Management (HCM) deals with the overall management of healthcare institutions or facilities, such as a hospital, Clinics, nursing homes etc.  It is the profession that provides leadership skills to direct the organization which is responsible for delivering health services to make the population healthier. It has various domains such as staffing, budgeting, quality management, patient satisfaction, physician relationship, financial sustainability, modern technology acquisition and adaptation, innovating new technologies.

Who is Health Care Manager?

Healthcare manager is the Health care management graduates, who work as an in-charge of health care institutions or hospitals. They oversee the day-to-day operations of the facility.

The demand for managers and administrators is rising due to the increasing number of hospitals, nursing homes, Medical firms, INGOs and NGOs inside the country and as well as in the world. In most of the developing countries and low-income countries, healthcare services are managed by doctors and medical professionals other than Health Care Management due to the low human resources of Health Care Management. It is not an easy task to manage health institutions because they are complex and dynamic.

“Behind every great hospital or medical practice are health care managers who keep things running. Health care managers are responsible for overseeing areas such as quality of care and budgeting. Because hospitals and doctors’ practices have a high profile, health-care administration offers daily opportunities to make a difference in your community.” (Alyson, 2016)

Job Opportunities for Health Care Management Graduates

After graduating from Universities, They have various scopes in the field of health care institutions and industries. Some of them are as follows.

• Hospital Management
• Pharmaceutical companies
• Medical college and universities
• Entrepreneurship or management in the clinic
• Health Insurance companies
• Government
• Healthcare Facilities
• Medical
• Diagnostic & product testing labs
• Medical Representative
• Research institutions
• Developing the health plan/ policy/ guidelines
• Health insurance organizations

Career Paths

Career paths in Health Care Management are unlimited. There are various sub-field, such as finance, human resources, patient care, information systems or supply chain management. If you have post-graduate degree and experience in HCM you can able to apply for a job as an Executive levels (CEO).  A BHCM degree qualifies you for entry-level work in the field of health care, including marketing assistant or accounts-receivable supervisor. You’ll need a master’s for mid-level jobs such as Head of the department, manager, marketing director etc and a doctoral degree or professional certificate to run a large hospital or clinic.

Common healthcare management job titles

• Clinical director
• Chief Executive Officer
• Health and social services Director
• Medical records managers
• Office managers
• Practice administrator
• Clinical research manager
• Hospital marketing manager
• Health Information Managers

How to Become a Healthcare Manager?

To become a health care manager in Nepal, there is the undergraduate course for Health Care Management (BHCM) and Post Graduate course (PGDHCM and MHCM) courses are running by Pokhara University Faculty of Management affiliated college. Many students in Nepal don’t know properly about these courses. In Nepal, National Open College, Sanepa, Lalitpur is the first college to introduce BHCM program and MHCM course.

This course is designed to strengthen the management and business skills needed by the professionals to function effectively within the health care industry. The curriculum includes the study of health care strategic and financial management, health care policy analysis, and legal and ethical considerations within the industry.

Health Care Management College in Nepal

Bachelor in Health Care Management (BHCM) is a four-year course of Pokhara University, which prepares students to enter management practice in a health care setting. The goal of the program is to provide a solid foundation of managerial knowledge within the health care industry, combined with the discipline to apply that knowledge in a professionally competent manner to advance the health of the community.

List of BHCM Colleges:

• Amity College Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur
• Atharva Business College, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu
• Central College of Business Management, Sinamangal, Kathmandu
• National Open College (NOC), Sanepa, Lalitpur
• Nobel College, Sinamangal, Kathmandu
• Imperial Business College, Hattisar, Kathmandu

Course Curriculum of BHCM :

It is a 4-year program and consists of 8 semesters. To study an undergraduate program in BHCM student has to pass +2/intermediate level (HSEB) or PCL level from CTEVT securing minimum second division or equivalent in any discipline.

List of PGDHCM (Post Graduate Diploma in Health Care Management) College in Nepal

PGDHCM is a professionally designed program of international standard aiming to impart a foundation course in health care management in a wider sense and also prepares for some specific applications of health care management. It opens up a career and consolidates students’ knowledge and also prepares them for further studies in health care management.

List of PGDHCM College

• National Open College, Sanepa, Lalitpur

Course Curriculum PGDHCM

It is an one year program consist 2 semesters. Eligibility criteria to join this course is All Bachelor’s Degree Holders.

Masters in Health Care Management (MHCM)

Eligibility criteria for this course in Nepal are students who have BHCM or PGDHCM or any Doctors (MBBS, BDS, BAMS, BPT, Homeopathy and Naturopathy) are eligible for applying to study MHCM.

MHCM College in Nepal:

• National Open College, Sanepa, Lalitpur

It is only one college offering MHCM degree till these courses started in Nepal.

Curriculum of MHCM

The MHCM students are required to complete 15 courses, Internship, and Thesis work. The courses consist of five core courses (equivalent to 15 credit hours), seven professional courses (equivalent to 21 credit hour), and three elective courses (equivalent to 9 credit hours). Students are required to attend classes in the college and take written examinations conducted by the A controller of Examination, Pokhara University to be held at the end of every semester.

International Universities offering Health Care Management Degree:

Here are some list of international universities.

• Swiss Business School (MSc)
• Harvard College, United States
• Murdoch University, Australia
• SRH Berlin University of Applied Sciences, Germany
• IUBH University of Applied Sciences, Germany
• National Louis University Chicago, United States