Choose the ideal MBA in Healthcare Management for your career. Specialisations include Health, Health Services Management, Business Management, and Public Health.
An MBA in Healthcare Management is for rising managers in the healthcare industry. Expect from 17% to 33% of the program to explore issues that are specific to health manager roles.
As a manager in a healthcare setting – such as a hospital, treatment clinic, aged face facility or government health agency – you need general business administration skills. But you may also benefit from specialised training in clinical governance, health informatics, the Australian health system, or ethics in patient services delivery.
A Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management meets the education requirements of health managers. If you do an online program, you have the ability to study part-time while working full-time. Australia's best courses are also accelerated, meaning you can complete your degree quicker by studying year round.
Health Specialisation
An MBA in Health is simply a Master of Business Administration degree with a focus on the healthcare industry. Program participants develop skills to manage and lead teams that help patients by delivering services, medical treatments and products.
UTS Online
The flexible MBA from UTS Online allows you to construct a specialisation in Health. The 100% online program is made up of 12 subjects, with 8 core subjects and 4 electives. Units on health include: 'Planning and Evaluating Health Services'; 'Fundamentals of Health Information Management'; 'Leading Health and Social Care' and 'Managing Quality, Risk and Cost in Health Care'. Informed strategy is an underlying theme in this forward-looking MBA, which also explores business analytics, digital marketing, strategy and negotiation, and finance for managers.
Health Services Management
As a health manager, you encounter challenges on a daily basis that a specialised MBA can help you surmount. An MBA in health services management builds knowledge and skills to perform tasks such as: service planning, record handling, managing costs and budgets, using performance analytics, and risk handling in health care.
Southern Cross University
The affordable online MBA from Southern Cross University offers a specialisation in Health Services Management. To qualify, choose two from the following four health units: Leading Change in Healthcare, Strategic Health Management, Healthcare Professional Portfolio A, and Principles and Practice of Clinical Accountability. The length of the program depends on how much credit you receive for advanced standing. Core subjects include marketing, finance for managers, communication, and organisational behaviour. Students do one subject at a time in 7-week teaching blocks. The course is ideal for working professionals and can often be completed inside 2 years.
An MBA for Health Business Managers
Healthcare is a business in many respects and you may want to do an MBA reflecting that. In a business-focused program, you'll cover topics such as doing business in health, management challenges in healthcare, financial management, innovation, and marketing for managers.
University of Adelaide
Health Management is available as a major at the University of Adelaide's business school. Earning this MBA degree could create career opportunities in hospital and clinic management, residential care, allied and community health, insurance, pharmaceutical, and more. The 12-subject program is delivered using the best e-learning technology. Features include 100% online study, 6-week study blocks, collaborative learning and dedicated support. Among other topics, you'll study leadership, finance, marketing, how to do business in the healthcare sector, and challenges for health managers.
Public Health
A strong grasp of public health policy and practices is valuable throughout the health sector, a point highlighted by pandemic experiences. You can develop expertise in public health as part of your Master of Business Administration studies.
UTS Online
UTS Online offers a flexible MBA that gives you the ability to construct a Public Health specialisation. The 100% online program consists of 12 subjects, with 8 core subjects and 4 electives. Public Health units are: Fundamentals of Epidemiology, Foundations in Public Health, Indigenous Public Health, Global Health Systems, Health Promotion, and Planetary Health. The MBA is for contemporary business leaders, with a modern take on topics such as marketing, leadership, managerial economics, and data-driven decision making. You can work full-time while studying for the degree online.
What You'll Study (Course Structure)
An MBA in Australia is a 12-subject program typically, consisting of core subjects and electives. To qualify for a healthcare management specialisation, you need to do electives from the relevant study stream.
With an accelerated course, students study part-time while working full-time in general. By completing one subject every two months, you can earn an MBA in 2 years part-time. You'll study as part of a virtual class and communicate with classmates and instructors online.
Curriculum
- Accounting and Financial Management
- Doing Business in Health
- Entrepreneurial Mindset
- Innovation Management
- Leadership and Influencing
- Management Challenges in Health
- Managerial Economics
- Managing People and Organisations
- Marketing for Managers
- Research for Managers
- Research Project (2x credit)
Core units*
- Accounting for Managers
- Corporate Governance for Managers
- Economics and Quantitative
- Finance for Managers
- Global Business
- Industry Research Project (double-weighted)
- Management Communication
- Managing Information Systems
- Marketing
- Organisational Behaviour
- Project Management Principles
- Strategy and Case Analysis
- The Positive Leader
* Advanced standing can affect the number of units students are required to complete. The University awards credit for prior learning via education, qualifications and work experience.
Electives (Choose 2)
- Healthcare Professional Portfolio A
- Leading Change in Healthcare
- Principles and Practice of Clinical Accountability
- Strategic Health Management
Core subjects
- Leading People and Change
- Marketing in the Age of Technology
- Accounting for Decision Makers
- Managerial Economics
- Data-Driven Decision-Making
- Financial Fundamentals
- Governance and Sustainability
- Strategy and Negotiation (capstone)
Electives (Choose 4)
- Health Promotion
- Fundamentals of Epidemiology
- Leading Health and Social Care
- Managing Quality, Risk and Cost in Health Care
- Planning and Evaluating Health Services
- Fundamentals of Health Information Management
- Foundations in Public Health (1/2 credit points) + Indigenous Public Health (1/2 credit points)
- Global Health Systems (1/2 credit points) + Planetary Health (1/2 credit points)
Learning Outcomes
A Master of Business Administration prepares you for management and leadership roles. You gain business skills – in areas such as accounting, finance, marketing and human resource management – for application as a manager rather than a technician. Graduates also build business leadership skills and expertise in their area(s) of specialisation.
Almost every skill you acquire should have potential relevance and value for future health manager jobs. The idea of a business administration course is to develop versatile skills that can be applied in any industry. You'll gain a combination of business management competencies and health administration knowledge.
Career Opportunities
Demand for health-related services, and healthcare managers, shows no sign of slowing. Rising incomes and a growing list of treatments and services makes healthcare one of the most rapidly growing employment sectors.
Job projections for Australia include a 15.5% increase in the employment of Health Professions over the next 5 years to 771,000. Wherever medical, therapy and other health workers are employed, so are healthcare managers at various levels. And remember that an MBA is a business management qualification with value across industries.
Occupations
- aged care residence manager
- business development manager
- clinical services manager
- director of nursing
- health information manager
- health service manager
- nursing unit manager
- program director
- quality and risk manager.
Employers
- aged care facilities
- community health centres
- digital health institutes
- government departments
- health insurers
- hospitals (public and private)
- medical technology companies
- non-government organisations
- private practice.
Graduate Salaries
An MBA should strongly position an experienced healthcare professional for managerial and executive roles related to their domain of expertise. The indicative salary a graduate may earn is upwards of $105k.
Pay statistics for some of the more common administration roles show that clinic managers earn an average salary of $107,627 per year in Australia (based on 1.1k salaries reported). Clinic coordinators, on the other hand, earn an average salary of $99,080 per year, based on 720 sample points. Additionally, clinical nurse managers earn an average salary of $115,642 per year, based on 425 observations.
Entry Requirements
Standard MBA entry requirements apply. You don't need a health background to be admitted.
Admission requirements are typically that you have a bachelor's degree and 2+ years of professional experience. However, requirements vary and alternative entry pathways are available.
To gain entry, you need to meet at least one of these requirements:
- An undergraduate bachelor degree (or equivalent) and 2+ years of relevant work experience.
- A completed GMAT with a score of >500 and 2+ years of relevant work experience.
- Successful completion of a University of Adelaide Graduate Certificate in Business Administration.
If you do not meet the above entry requirements, you may be eligible for a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration.
Tuition fees are $4,746 per course in 2022.
There are six intakes annually: January, March, May, July, August and October. Applications usually close four weeks before each teaching period commences.
Are you an international student?
You must be proficient in speaking, listening, reading and writing in English since this is the instruction language.
You must be able to demonstrate that you meet Minimum English Language Requirements unless you are an Australian citizen, Australian Permanent Resident (visa status) or hold a passport from: New Zealand, Canada (English speaking provinces only), the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom or the United States.
To gain admission into the Master of Business Administration, applicants require:
- A three-year bachelor degree from an Australian university OR
- Work experience regarded by the University as equivalent to a degree AND
- All students need to be proficient in English.
Without a bachelor degree, you could still be eligible for entry through relevant professional experience.
Tuition fees are $2,900 per unit in 2022. FEE-HELP is available.
Start dates / intakes: Jan, Mar, Apr, July, Sep, Nov
Applicants must have an undergraduate bachelor degree plus one of the following:
- GPA of 5.25+ on a 7-point scale, or equivalent, and a 90% pass rate
- Four years full-time (or equivalent) relevant work experience
- Satisfactory Graduate Management Admission Test result, with an overall score of 550+ with verbal 25, quantitative 35 and AWA 4.0.
Postgraduate qualification pathway
Alternatively, you may gain entry based on holding a graduate certificate, graduate diploma or master’s degree. Satisfactory completion is required and is defined as over 75% of subjects completed at pass level.
English language requirements
The English proficiency requirement for applicants with international qualifications is: "Academic IELTS: 6.5 overall with a writing score of 6.0; or TOEFL: paper based: 550-583 overall with TWE of 4.5, Internet based: 79-93 overall with a writing score of 21; or AE5: Pass; or PTE: 58-64; or CAE: 176-184."
Tuition fees are $4,218 per subject in 2022. FEE-HELP is available.
Start dates: Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Aug, Oct
FAQs
Healthcare management is a rapidly expanding sector in Australia, with strong career prospects for individuals moving into administration positions. Employment of Health and Welfare Services Managers is projected to surge by 26.5% to over 45,000 by 2027. This occupational group includes medical administrators, nursing clinical directors, primary health organisation managers, and welfare centre managers.
Health service management is also a rewarding career. Many health professionals and administrators involved with health seek more senior roles as they gain experience. With knowledge and maturity comes a desire to have greater influence. A management career allows you to have a strong, positive impact on clients, patients and health workers.
With respect to remuneration, average salaries for health service managers often sit above the lucrative salaries of health professionals with many more years of formal education. "The base pay of insurance executives, hospital executives and even hospital administrators often far outstrips doctors’ salaries" (New York Times).
On-the-job experience as a health professional is a common pathway to becoming a healthcare manager. You may start supervising and managing fellow health workers, perhaps transitioning into senior management or administration roles. A pure administration career path is also viable, whereby your initial engagement with the health sector is as a junior administrative employee.
University qualifications are generally seen as important for succeeding in this field. A graduate certificate, graduate diploma or, preferably, a master's degree all increase your competitiveness as a job candidate. This is especially true for executive positions.
Traditionally, prospective students saw their choice as between an MBA or a Master of Health Administration (or Master of Health Management). An MBA with a health specialisation is essentially a blend of the degrees. It's a two-for-one program, qualifying you for health service management specifically but also for business management generally.
In general, MBA programs don't require a specific undergraduate degree. Nonetheless, if you're interested in an MBA focusing on the health industry, there are a few different undergraduate degrees that can be a good fit. Some common options include:
- A bachelor's degree in business administration, which provides a strong foundation in management and business principles.
- A bachelor's degree in health administration or a related field, such as public health or health service administration. This can provide you with a more specific background in health services and prepare you for the challenges you may face as a manager.
- A bachelor's degree in a relevant subject area, such as biology or nursing. This offers a deeper understanding of health industries and the specific challenges and opportunities you may encounter in the workplace.
Ultimately, the best undergraduate degree depends on your individual goals, interests, and background. Carefully consider your options and choose a degree program that aligns with your career aspirations.
