What Makes a Good HC Administrator

Administration, whether in health care or IT, is sometimes a seemingly thankless job. Health Care Administration and/or Medical Office Administration, both of which are among the high-quality health care programs offered online and on-campus at Concorde, demand a sense of organization, aptitude and selfless service.

We gleaned some inspiration from a blog posted on the Regent Surgical Health website. David Moody, RN, Administrator at Knightsbridge Surgery Center, and Robert Welti, M.D., Senior Vice President of Business Development at Regent, listed their top 10 qualities that make for great health care administration.

1. Develop excellent communications skills. An administrator has to balance the needs of surgeons, anesthesiologists, patients, staff and sometimes a management company or hospital partner.
2. Be proactive, not reactive. A great administrator will see trends and challenges before they become crises and work hard to stay ahead of the curve.
3. Have a clinical background. Having a clinical background can help an administrator get inside the heads of the doctors and their needs and expectations and also understand the experience of patients.
4. Be a coach, not a dictator. First-class health care administration never has a one-size-fits-all approach to staff management but is flexible enough to adapt to various situations as they arise.
5. Come armed with experience. Although much of an administrator's job is learned on the spot, experiences help to understand the regulatory requirements and other aspects of running a center.
6. Be organized. An administrator is confronted daily with challenges coming from different directions, whether patient care issues, materials management, equipment shortages or contracts.
7. Have insatiable curiosity. A great administrator should always be asking, "What if?" One key to success is never accepting things as they are.
8. Play on the team, but be a decision-maker. Don't micro-manage, but be able to make the difficult decisions when warranted.
9. Be good at hiring. You'll only be as good as the strong team you build around you.
10. Be accessible to staff. Some of the most rewarding aspects of health care administration involve interacting with other staff.

"In my opinion, traits needed to be a good health care administrator would be the ability to multitask, efficient and customer service oriented," said Jessica Silcox, Medical Office Administration Program Director at Concordes campus in San Antonio.

She said administrators in today's health care administration climate have to keep in mind they are in the customer service industry. At the same time, they must be able to multitask while at the same time maintaining a high level of efficiency.

"These traits will help the Health Care Administrator become an asset in the office, be a productive member of the team and contribute to the overall productivity levels obtained by the office," Silcox said.