Why Not Try Managing Patient Care?

So many people think their only options are to go to Med School or be a lovely orderly who fluffs patient's pillows, but the truth of the matter is that you have many more options than you think (and you may not even NEED a medical education.)

Business is a popular degree program in colleges and universities and every college (big or small) seems to have an MBA program. Well, if you have already gotten into business and you want to get the most out of your business education then you should strongly consider easing your way into the medical community and helping doctors and medical facilities do the best they can with their money. (I know Doctors are supposed to be smart, but that doesn't mean they're all smart with numbers, right?)

If you have a penchant for billing and invoicing (accounts payable) then you may want to got to work in a hospital, medical facility, or practice that needs someone to handle all their billing and keep it in order. Just think of all the different kinds of insurance plans there are, now divide that by the different amounts certain patients have to pay, now multiply that by all the confused patients who just need to see the Doctor. That's what you're untangling for a swamped Doctor and his/her staff when you go into this field. Don't think for a second that they can do it on their own...they already have enough on their plates.

Now, multiply by "infinity" and you get the billing troubles of a hospital (in a nutshell.) It would be pretty easy to help with the books, but hospitals also need lots of help with "coding" and insurance in general. Someone has to get the right codes for the right procedures on the right charts at the right time every single day. Well, if you're good with numbers you can handle that and if you're REALLY good you could end up managing the billing, coding, and insurance services for a larger medical facility.

Now, this IS a medical job, but it is not patient-related in that you provide direct patient care, but if you care about patients and you want to reduce their stress levels then you will definitely want to work in coding and billing because getting this right the first time saves a lot of headaches for the patients on a day-to-day basis.

What about working hospital administration? Someone has to handle all the budgeting and finances of a hospital, medical practice or health care facility. Don't they? The Doctors that work there are all partners, but they have no idea what's going on from a cash flow basis and someone needs to be able to explain their "cash flow position" to them in Doctorese. You could be that person.

It's one thing to think that you got a business degree to go "into business" and it is another thing to think that medicine is precluded from "business activities". Because of the billions of dollars that flow through the healthcare system every year we need LOTS of smart people like you who can handle numbers and make them make sense for the rest of us.

Also, because there are specialized fields in coding and insurance you could really carve out a niche for yourself as a hospital administrator. Imagine being the "Queen of Coding" or the "Goddess of Insurance". Sounds nice doesn't it? It also makes you indispensable...and indispensable means job security and job security is primo these days.

Happy hunting for the right "business" opportunity!