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Healthcare Administration Student Resources

Healthcare Administration Career Outlook

Demand for Healthcare Services Continues to Remain Strong

The demand for healthcare services in the United States has risen steadily over the past 50 years. This level of demand is expected to continue. Currently, healthcare administration represents nearly 20% of the U.S. economy, totaling nearly $4.3 trillion. See illustrative graphs below.

A graph from 1970 to 2021 that displays total national health expenditures as a percent of Gross Domestic Product. The graph shows health expenditures at 6.9 percent in 1970 with a steady increase to 18.3 percent in 2021.

A graph displaying the total national health expenditures in the United States in billons of dollars from 1970 to 2021. A top line represents constant 2021 dollars and starts at 406.7 billion dollars in 1970 and increases to 4,255.1 billion dollars in 2021. (As a side note, a constant dollar is an inflation adjusted value used to compare dollar values from one period to another.) A second line represents total national health expenditures and begins in 1970 at 74.1 billion dollars and increases to 4,255.1 billion dollars in 2021.

Demand for Leaders and Managers of Healthcare Services Stronger Than Other Management Occupations

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a nearly 30% growth in healthcare administration jobs over the next decade. See chart. The following is an excerpt of the job outlook for healthcare administration jobs from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Businessman shaking hands with a doctor.

As the large baby-boom population enters older age groups, which typically experience more health problems, there should be increased demand for healthcare services. This means there will be greater need for physicians and other healthcare workers, medical procedures, and healthcare facilities, and therefore greater need for managers to organize and oversee medical information and healthcare staff. These managers are important for improving care coordination, which is key in team-based care.

In addition, widespread use of electronic health records (EHRs) will continue to create demand for managers with knowledge of health information technology (IT) and informatics systems. Medical and health services managers will be needed to organize, oversee, and integrate these records across areas of the healthcare industry.

Healthcare Administration Course Sequence

Introductory Module
BIO230 - Essentials of Human Anatomy & Physiology (4)
ECON150 - Economic Principles and Problems-Micro (3)
HCA285 – Introduction to Healthcare Administration (3)
HCA290 – Healthcare Law and Ethics (2)
MATH221B - Biostatistics (3)
Healthcare Administration Module
BUS301 - Advanced Writing in Professional Contexts (3)
HCA340 – Managing Healthcare Provider Organizations (3)
HCA360 – Healthcare Systems (3)
HCA380 – Healthcare Strategy (3)
HCA395 – Healthcare Insurance (3)
HCA445 – Healthcare Finance (3)
HCA455 – Healthcare Operations (3)
HCA490 – Healthcare Administration
Capstone (2)
HCA498R – Healthcare Administration Internship (2)
Business Module
BUS115 – Business Applications (3)
BA211 - Business Fundamentals (3)
ACCTG180 - Survey of Accounting (3) or ACCT201 – Financial Accounting (3)
FIN301 - Financial Management (3)
SCM361 - Production and Operations Management (3)

Students are strongly encouraged to complete 200-level courses before registering for 300-level courses, and to complete all 300-level courses before registering for 400-level courses. Below is a suggested sequence of courses over eight semesters.

Semester 1
ECON150 - Economic Principles and Problems-Micro (3)
HCA285 – Introduction to Healthcare Administration (3)
Semester 2
BA211 - Business Fundamentals (3)
BIO230 - Essentials of Human Anatomy & Physiology (4)
HCA290 – Healthcare Law and Ethics (2)
Semester 3
BUS115 – Business Applications (3)
MATH221B - Biostatistics (3)
ACCTG180 - Survey of Accounting (3) or ACCT201 – Financial Accounting (3)
Semester 4
HCA340 – Managing Healthcare Provider Organizations (3)
HCA360 – Healthcare Systems (3)
Semester 5
HCA380 – Healthcare Strategy (3)
SCM361 - Production and Operations Management (3)
FIN301 - Financial Management (3)
Semester 6
HCA395 – Healthcare Insurance (3)
HCA445 – Healthcare Finance (3)
Semester 7
HCA455 – Healthcare Operations (3)
HCA490 – Healthcare Administration Capstone (2)
Semester 8
HCA498R – Healthcare Administration Internship (2)

Minors & Making The Most Of Elective Credits

Because healthcare organizations are comprised of several functional areas, many students find it helpful to supplement their degree in healthcare administration with a minor that is focused on one of these functional areas. Below is a list of some of these areas and associated minors or certificates that can be earned through the wise use of your elective credits while here at BYU-Idaho.

Students Can Also Earn a Minor or Cluster in Healthcare Administration

Pairing a Healthcare Administration minor or cluster with degrees in business disciplines such as management, finance, marketing, operations, and others, including data analytics or computer science, can be an effective and powerful way to prepare a student to enter work in the healthcare industry.

A Deeper Dive Into Healthcare Administration Careers

A great source to find information about careers is a professional organization designed for a particular career. Professional organizations function to provide general career information, continuing educational resources, career networking opportunities, and certifications for professionals working in a specific career. There are several healthcare administration professional organizations which represent various sectors or functions of the healthcare industry. The following is a list of these and a link to the professional organization associated with it.

Assisted Living Facilities
National Center for Assisted Living

Skilled Nursing Facilities
American Health Care Association

Ambulatory Surgery Centers
Ambulatory Surgery Center Association

Physician Practices
Medical Group Management Association

Acute Care Hospitals
American College of Healthcare Executives

Financial Management of Healthcare Facilities
Healthcare Financial Management Association

Healthcare Strategy, Marketing, and Communications
Society for Health Care Strategy and Market Development

Healthcare Quality

Healthcare Administration Internships

Completing an internship is required for the Healthcare Administration degree. The link below is to the healthcare administration internship guide. This guide will answer many questions regarding healthcare administration internships.

Healthcare Administration Internship Guide

Doctors on business meeting.

Healthcare Administration Alumni

Hayden Nielsen – Operations Manager, Mayo Clinic
Hayden-Nielsen-Photo.jpg
“The Healthcare Administration program at BYU-Idaho has been essential to my journey as a professional. I felt much more prepared and confident going into internships, and graduate school. In addition, the connections that I made at BYU-Idaho have paid off immensely. I am very grateful for my time in the program.”

Hayden Nielsen is currently working at Mayo Clinic in a dual role as the Operations Manager for the Department of Medical and Surgical Gynecology and as the Operations Manager of the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. He joined the organization in 2020 as an Administrative Fellow. Prior to Mayo Clinic, he received a Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration from Brigham Young University-Idaho. While at BYU-Idaho, he completed two internships at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City in Patient Experience and Quality Improvement. Hayden received a Master of Health Administration from Cornell University in May 2020. While in graduate school, he completed a Business Operations internship at American Vision Partners in Tempe, Arizona, and also worked as a Graduate Consultant for the Monroe Plan for Medical Care in Rochester, New York.
Bryce Bond – Ambulatory Quality Supervisor, Seasons Medical
Bryce-Bond.jpg
“The healthcare administration program at BYU-Idaho provided me with a network of contacts which ultimately led to my internship and first job of my career. The base knowledge of how the healthcare industry functions was key in my performance as an intern and new employee at Seasons Medical.”

Bryce Bond currently serves as the Ambulatory Quality Supervisor for Seasons Medical, a multi-specialty healthcare group that includes physicians practicing in the areas of family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and pediatrics. As Ambulatory Quality Supervisor, Bryce leads other care coordinators in the areas of population management and clinical improvement activities. Bryce also maintains the Primary Care Medical Home recognition for Seasons Medical and other affiliated physician practices. Other duties that Bryce fulfills include overseeing initiatives to lower costs in collaboration with various healthcare payers, maintaining provider schedules, and managing registration and admitting functions.

Bryce began working full time at Seasons Medical after completing an internship with them while studying healthcare administration at BYU-Idaho. Bryce from BYU-Idaho in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration.