6 Must-Have Skills For Healthcare Management In 2022

Skills for healthcare management have undergone a sea change with the pandemic hitting the globe and the firms adopting telemedicine and virtual care. The best skills for healthcare jobs that employers are looking for are a mix of technical, soft skills, and analytical skills. Besides the front-line workers, healthcare firms scout for highly skilled administrative staff for optimal patient care. 

Data published by the government projects that the healthcare industry in Canada is expected to double the total number of bioscience and healthcare companies by 2025. This is likely to propel the need for clinical and administrative staff.

Here are the top six must-have skills that employers want healthcare professionals to possess in 2022: 

Technical skills 

1. Budgeting/billing 

It is crucial for healthcare professionals to be well-versed in the processes of budgeting and billing. They need to maintain appropriate stock of resources to ensure smooth operations. Checking supplies, the record of salaries, and managing equipment need budgeting skills. Where customer billing is concerned, being a healthcare administrator, you have to ensure that the patients who are unable to pay, have options for payment plans.

2. Quality Assurance and Control

Ensuring that the clinical facility adheres to standards is an important responsibility of medical office administrators. Regular review of processes, timely lab reports, safety measures, and managing customer feedback – all this needs excellent analytical and problem-solving skills. Employers seek healthcare professionals with such abilities. 

Soft skills

3. Effective Communication

As a healthcare administrator, you are the first point of contact for patients, external stakeholders, and other staff members. Effective communication is a must-have skill in all professions. For healthcare management, you are required to communicate clearly and concisely. Whether you are scheduling appointments, managing check-ins, customer complaints, or interacting with doctors, excellent communication skills come in handy for you to excel in your field. 

4. Collaboration/Teamwork

Being a team player and collaborating with different departments is a crucial skill that you must acquire. A healthcare facility needs regular collaboration with other staff members to run it smoothly. A study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) study reveals, “Over 70% of medical errors occur due to dysfunctional team dynamics.” It is clear that collaboration plays a major role for health administrative staff and front-line workers. You must foster teamwork within your functional area, something that the employer wants.

Analytical skills 

5. Problem-solving

In today’s demanding healthcare sector jobs, employers want talented professionals who can handle challenges, adapt to situations, and have a problem-solving mindset. If a situation comes when two medical assistants take leave suddenly, or if the insurance company refuses to process your patient’s claims, or if there’s a shortage of supplies in your office? 

These are challenging situations that the hirer will expect you to resolve, as the best healthcare administrator, with your abilities. You can benefit from this by implementing it to make processes better and run smooth operations. 

6. Data analysis 

Data is at the crux of the healthcare industry. You can use data to make informed decisions, improve patient care, for speedy and accurate diagnoses, make treatment personalized, and provide better solutions. Data analytics skills can also help manage costs and improve efficiency. 

How to develop your soft skills? 

Now that you know which skills are desired by the employers to excel in the healthcare administration field, here are some quick tips for you to start developing them: 

• Assess the strengths and skills that you already possess.
• Introspect which skills do you need – whether it’s time management, empathy, data literacy, collaboration, or any other.
• Enroll in the right health care program.
• Take guidance from your instructors/mentors.
• Practice what you learn.

If you’re interested in developing the above-mentioned skills in health care, ABM College’s Healthcare programs can help you acquire these high in demand skills, and get you job-ready. Learn more about how you can apply today or read more education and employment tips on our blog.