Health services management courses teach you how to improve efficiency, quality and safety in healthcare delivery. 100% online courses are available for health and social care professionals.
Health service management courses are about learning to manage healthcare processes for the benefit of patients and clients. The field is similar to health administration but with a greater emphasis on service delivery.
Online programs are available for healthcare workers such as nurses, doctors, therapists and social workers. By doing a postgraduate course, such as a graduate certificate or masters, you gain skills and qualifications to elevate your job responsibilities.
A Graduate Certificate for Health Service Managers
A Graduate Certificate in Health Services Management is a relatively short course consisting of four subjects. The course allows you to upgrade your health management credentials and test out a masters program. Online learning makes it possible to study part-time while working full-time.
UTS Online Graduate Certificate in Health Services Management
The UTS Online Graduate Certificate in Health Services Management is for health and social care professionals who want to drive change to create safer, higher value and more equitable services and systems. Delivered part-time and 100% online, this course gives students a deep understanding of the complexities of the Australian health and social care systems and the skills to plan, evaluate and improve health systems and services. At the successful completion of your studies, you’ll have the opportunity to enrol into the Master of Health Services Management, where you’ll gain specialist knowledge in quality and safety, digital health, leadership or planning.
Master of Health Services Management Online
A master's degree provides extended training in how to be an excellent service manager in a health or social care setting. You can earn your masters with a 100% online course from an Australian university. Graduates acquire both general and specialised skills for senior health management roles.
UTS Online Master of Health Services Management
UTS Online’s Master of Health Services Management course prepares leaders in health and social care who want to drive change and create safer, higher value and more equitable health systems and services. With a focus on quality and safety, you’ll learn about planning and evaluating health services to innovate and improve systems. You’ll also learn about the importance of utilising and understanding data to improve, implement and drive quality and safety. Customise your studies to align to your career ambitions by choosing to major in quality and safety or sub-major in digital health, leadership or planning. Designed with healthcare professionals in mind, this course is delivered part-time and 100% online, enabling you to continue working full-time while gaining immediately applicable skills.
MBA in Healthcare Management
An MBA with a major in Healthcare Management (or similar) is an alternative to a specialist master's degree. Students learn general business administration skills.
An advantage of an MBA program is that you receive a universally recognised management qualification, one which carries weight in every industry. At the same time, your MBA specialisation demonstrates expertise in the healthcare sector.
The majority of course content will be on general business management subjects. A minor proportion of subjects will focus exclusively on the health industry... READ MORE
What You'll Study (Course Structure)
What you study depends on the program and specialisation. Expect to explore general management and administration topics. For a longer program such as a graduate diploma or masters, you're likely to explore subjects on health service planning, achieving quality and safety in healthcare, and innovation in health service delivery.
The course is comprised of four core subjects:
- Foundations of the Australian Healthcare System
- Using Health Care Data for Decision Making
- Organisational Management in Health Care
- Managing Quality, Risk and Cost in Health Care
The UTS master's program consists of 6 core subjects and 6 electives, with a major available in Quality and Safety and sub-majors available in Digital Health, Leadership, and Planning.
Core subjects
- Foundations of the Australian Healthcare System
- Using Health Care Data for Decision Making
- Organisational Management in Health Care
- Managing Quality, Risk and Cost in Health Care
- Policy, Power and Politics in Health Care
- Fundamentals of Epidemiology
Quality and Safety major
- Planning and Evaluating Health Services
- Improving Safety and Quality in Healthcare
- Systems and Service Innovation
- Quality and Safety Improvement Methods
Digital Health sub-major
- Contemporary Approaches to Digital Health
- Fundamentals of Health Information Management
Leadership sub-major
- Health Systems and Change
- Leading Health and Social Care
Planning sub-major
- Health Systems and Change
- Planning and Evaluating Health Services
Learning Outcomes
Any health management course should make you a better all-round manager. Plus, you'll gain greater insight into effectively managing the delivery of healthcare and social services. Here are learning outcomes you can expect, especially from longer programs.
Management and leadership skills
Strong awareness of principles and strategies for effectively supervising individual staff, leading teams, and directing services.
Healthcare service organisation skills
Research, planning and evaluation skills, especially in relation to the safe and equitable delivery of health and social care services.
Management and use of digital health information
Ability to manage healthcare data processes to ensure health information can be used to meet clinical, strategic and operational requirements.
Career Opportunities
With ever-increasing demand for health and related services in Australia, career opportunities for managers in the health sector are bountiful. Jobs for Health and Welfare Services Managers are projected to expand by 26.5% to 45,000 positions over the 5 years to 2027.
Some of the roles you would be more qualified to do after completing a university program are nurse unit manager, aged care manager, clients services manager, clinical operations manager, healthcare consultant, and practice director.
Entry Requirements
Managing healthcare services is a broad discipline that's open to people from different professional backgrounds. While entry requirements vary, you're generally able to access a program with a bachelor degree or comparable professional experience.
Here are examples of course admission requirements. Enquire for further details.
Applicants require a bachelor’s degree or an equivalent or higher qualification OR evidence of general and professional qualifications demonstrating ability to complete postgraduate education.
Those without a degree may gain entry based on demonstrated relevant work experience in healthcare or human services.
Online courses are unavailable to international students on a Student Visa. English language requirements apply.
Tuition fees are $12,678 in 2022. FEE-HELP loans are available to cover course costs.
Key dates: Intakes happen in Jan, Mar, July, May, Sept, Oct.
Students need a bachelor’s degree or an equivalent or higher qualification OR evidence of general and professional qualifications demonstrating ability to do postgraduate education.
For those relying on academic qualification, the bachelor’s degree should be in a related field in the disciplines of health or human services.
Students not meeting entry requirements for the masters may, if they are admitted to the corresponding graduate certificate course, use successful completion of that as an alternative admissions pathway.
Online programs are unavailable to international students on a Student Visa. English language requirements apply.
FAQs
The Australian Government defines a Health and Welfare Services Manager as someone who plans, organises, directs, controls and coordinates the "professional and administrative aspects of health and welfare programs and services".
Essentially, a health service manager is responsible for health and social services without necessarily delivering the services in person. According to healthcare consultant Jennifer Hinkel, "Health services managers are often looking at questions around efficiency, safety and improving the patient experience and satisfaction."
While every position is unique, job duties may include:
- Human resources management of clinical and facilities staff
- Managing budgets, inventory and staff rosters
- Ensuring proper record keeping and regulatory compliance
- Overseeing and reporting on services delivery by the healthcare team.
Health service management combines administrative tasks, such as human resource management and budgeting, with the primary responsibility of ensuring services are accessible, safe and of a high quality.
You don't need any particular educational qualification or professional certification to be a health service manager in Australia. But certain steps are necessary for you to properly prepare for this kind of work and successfully compete for jobs.
1. Obtain a bachelor degree in a health or social services field.
Examples of degrees are nursing, physiotherapy, pharmacy, paramedical science, psychology, human services, social work, health science, medicine and public health.
2. Secure work related to your field of study and build professional experience.
You need to gain detailed first-hand knowledge of how services are delivered and the kinds of leadership issues that arise. Ideally, you'll also be promoted to supervisory and management positions.
3. Do postgraduate study in health service management.
Examples of qualifications are graduate certificates, graduate diplomas and masters in health management or health administration. Master's degrees take longer and make you more qualified. Accelerated courses allow you to study online part-time and still finish within a reasonable timeframe; typically 8 months for a graduate certificate, 16 months for a graduate diploma and two years for a master's degree.
4. Continue your line of work or seek more administrative roles.
Some health professionals move into management roles as a natural part of their career progression, aided by having earned management qualifications online. For example, a nurse may be internally promoted to a team leader or nursing unit manager role. If that's not the case, you can apply for more administrative, non-clinical kinds of work outside your immediate niche and progress from there.
