How to Be a Good Hospital Administrator

The job market is an extremely competitive world, therefore, if you have the ambition to make it in the medical industry, you’re bound to face an immense amount of competition. One of the most popular job roles in the field is a hospital administrator. If this is a career path you may potentially be interested in, you may have a few questions that need answering; what does it take to be a great hospital administrator and how can I progress in the role? In this guide, we’re going to give some top tips on how you can develop in your role as a hospital administrator and the fundamental skills you need to possess in order to not only succeed but to truly make a difference.

Keep learning

One of the first aspects of becoming a hospital administrator and being able to enhance your career path is to enrol onto an appropriate course such as healthcare or hospital administration. In doing so, you will become equipped with the theory and practical skills to have the capabilities of carrying out the job role effectively. You’ll focus on an array of subject areas including the likes of human resources, finance, ethical considerations, marketing and the application of information technology. This program is also designed to help you gain skills related to problem-solving and strategic planning.

However, even after you have qualified, there is still room for further learning. Although you may have enough tasks to manage on a day-to-day basis, you will still need to have the intention to improve your practice in any way possible, meaning you’ll be constantly learning. It would be wise to take time out to research the latest trends in the industry; whether that be new procedures, methods or investing in the latest technology and equipment to ensure your practice is one step ahead of the rest. However, in most cases, you’ll need to attend further courses, networking events or participating in webinars to ensure you’re ticking all the right boxes.

Be a tactical thinker

As a hospital administrator, it’s important you’re someone who thinks strategically and can put plans in place to produce effective results for the company. For example, some of your main strengths will need to lie in the planning of business and being able to generate management reports on a regular basis to send to partners that your practice deals with. Although administrators have the main task of running the surgery, they still have the responsibility of getting in touch with partners when any issues arise so they can be resolved immediately.

Be extremely organized

A hospital administrator has to deal with a variety of different sectors of the business, which means you need to have extremely good organizational skills in order to keep up with the daily demands. Without keeping track of each and every task that comes your way, some of the most important tasks may be missed, meaning partners, employees and patients are left in the lurch.

Find another hospital administrator to refer to

While a hospital administrator has a huge number of tasks to take care of on a daily basis, it can at times, be an extremely lonely role if you haven’t got an assistant working alongside you. If you feel as though you’d like the extra support, ask those in higher authority if an assistant could be hired, so you can balance out the workload and ask for advice in difficult situations. If it’s not possible to have an assistant, be sure to make contact with other local practices. This will enable you to share ideas about how certain aspects of the practice should be run and talk through certain courses of action. Quite simply, having someone else in direct contact means you can share ideas with one another to make your job a lot less stressful.

Be a leader

As with any management role, being a good leader is one of the basic skills of the position. You must be able to show an air of confidence in what you do to keep your employees on the ball. While it’s important to be friendly in your approach with employees and partners, you also need to be direct in what you want to achieve. Have the confidence to challenge anyone that isn’t delivering what you expect to keep the practice running effectively.

You’ll need to have loyal and capable staff working under you in order to lead to the best of your ability, but in some cases, you may not always be that lucky. As a leader, you should feel comfortable delegating tasks to staff members, always have a positive outlook and be one step ahead in terms of your thoughts and ideas. To develop these further, you can also opt for an online leadership degree, which will allow you to build upon vital leadership skills you already possess and learn more.

In order to be a good leader, it’s important you have the following skills:

1. Break down barriers
   
   In many organizations, employees feel a sense of distance towards their manager and while it’s important to keep professional barriers in place; leaders need to be aware that employees need to feel close to their manager, so they feel they are able to pull together to complete tasks when necessary.
2. Allow employees to make mistakes
   
   If you hire new employees working in the medical practice who have had no previous experience in the industry, give them the responsibility to take the reins once they have had the adequate training. While it’s essential that mistakes aren’t made when it comes to medicines or prescriptions, employees need to learn the ropes in their new workplace, even if it means making a few slip-ups every now and again. As a leader, it’s important not to mollycoddle new employees, as you’ll only be putting more work and stress on yourself in the long-term.
3. Have empathy
   
   While empathy is an emotion that all humans feel, it’s very often neglected in workplace scenarios. This is especially true in high-pressured environments such as healthcare, where patients come first, and employees come second. As a hospital administrator, it’s likely you’ll have more empathy for your patients and have their wellbeing at heart, but perhaps aren’t as empathetic with your staff. If however, you aim to show empathy with your staff, they’ll produce greater results.

Be skilled in finance

Part of being a hospital administrator is having the ability to deal with the finances of the practice or department to ensure that any money owed to the practice or to suppliers is paid on time. It would be advantageous if you have already had some experience in finances, as it’s fair to say that some of the contemporary processes have become complicated and time-consuming over the years. However, it’s expected that systems will become less difficult to manage thanks to the developments in technology.

Be aware of the risks

Risk is a major aspect of healthcare. With this in mind, clinical risk management is an essential part of the hospital administrator’s job; to improve both staff and patient safety. Ponder any past instances that may have occurred in order for your risk assessment to be thorough. You will need have an extremely good understanding of the risk factors of the workplace in a variety of aspects, however, health and safety is the main concern. There are also other risk factors that need to be considered, including the likes of financial and legal security for patient and staff wellbeing. There are so many risks to be aware of in medical workplaces that it’s essential that the practice manager covers all areas to prevent serious accidents or security breaches taking place. In the event of a risk happening, it’s the practice manager’s role to carry out the next steps.

Care about your employees

A good hospital administrator is an individual who truly cares about the staff under them. The medical environment can be hectic, in which patients are looking for the very best service when they’re ill and in need of professional attention. This can of course, then take its toll on staff members, which means they may not deliver the very best service, if they’re struggling with the high demands of their position. As a hospital administrator, it’s essential you’re able to cope well in a crisis and give your employees some recognition for their efforts, while giving some constructive criticism to help them improve where possible.

A hospital administrator needs to have a genuine interest in their employees so that they reach their goals, while giving credit where it’s due. Doing so means that staff will be far more inclined to be more productive in the workplace, so that team working is more efficient, and a much more positive working environment is achieved.

Be a good listener

One of the most important skills you must possess as a hospital administrator is to be a great listener. Every workplace experiences disagreements between employees, so you must be able to deal with negative attitudes and situations and nip it in the bud before it worsens. While you may not like being at the center of the action, it’s important you have the confidence to iron out any issues between employees and doctors. After all, their main focus while at work should be in the interests of the patients, rather than their own disputes.

Be able to take control

When times get stressful, all eyes will be on the hospital administrator as to what should be done before things get out of hand. If you show employees and partners that you’re cracking under pressure, the work environment will get extremely chaotic very quickly. Your staff are fundamental to the make or break of the business, which all depends on how well you manage them. Without having the ability to take control, you’re far more likely to be dealing with a high turnover of staff and therefore far too much of your daily schedule will be focused on the hiring and training processes.

Be willing to be flexible

Most surgeries are open very long hours; typically from very early morning to late in the evening. In most cases, you can expect to be working a 37-hour week and potentially more, if appointments run over. Therefore, you need to be willing to be flexible in terms of opening and closing times being very inconsistent.

Similarly, if you have had no previous experience in the role, you must be able to adapt to specialist areas such as the likes of IT and technology which are crucial to the running of medical practices. The bottom line is, that in order to succeed as a hospital administrator, it’s essential you’re able to deal with any circumstances that could be thrown in your direction.

Manage stress levels effectively

It goes without saying that working as a hospital administrator can be an extremely stressful experience, therefore, it’s important you’re able to manage your stress levels effectively in order to cope with the immense work load and pressure that will be placed on your shoulders.

Exercise is one of the most valuable ways of lowering stress levels and increasing happiness; so, once you get home from work, be sure to take the time out of your evening to concentrate on your own wellbeing. Neglecting your own health will only prevent you from performing to the best of your ability. There are many ways you can keep active; whether it be running, team sports or even gym sessions to release tension.

It has also been advised by those currently working in the industry to talk to your GP and partner about the stresses you’re dealing with. You may have unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved, which could make you feel depressed or incapable. However, meeting with partners from other practices is a great way to get the support you need.

If you’re looking to become a hospital administrator, we hope this guide has given you some inspiration on the type of skills you need to work on for the role, and the necessary information as to whether this career path is a suitable one for you.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.