Medical and Health Services Manager

This is often the most direct and clear path. This usually includes managing operations in a hospital, clinic, private practice, or public health department, among others. Managers in these positions often oversee budgeting and managing finances like patient fees and billing, recruiting, training, and supervising staff members, representing their facility at governing boards, and developing goals and objectives related to efficiency and quality of services. And according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), this field is projected to grow 23 percent from 2024 to 2034.

Health Information Manager

For many who enter a Medical and Health Services Management educational path, the administrative track is where they want to be. Many join this field through medical billing and coding or health information management tracks. Some of the things that people managing health information do include, but are not limited to, overseeing medical records to ensure privacy and security of patients’ health information, implementing and managing electronic health record systems, ensuring compliance with governing bodies, and organizing and updating information in databases. Those in this role may pursue additional certification, such as from The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).

Assisted Living or Long-Term Care Administrator

One of the many places that those with this degree can become a manager of includes assisted living or long-term care homes. The Medical and Health Services degree can prepare students to run assisted living facilities. Many of these responsibilities are supervising staff, recommending changes to policies and procedures like reassessing recordkeeping, overseeing maintenance and repair to machinery, and ensuring the facilities are compliant with environmental, health, and security requirements and regulations. According to BLS, this career track is projected to grow 4 percent from 2024 to 2034. And with the older generations aging to need care homes like this, many more managers will be needed to keep operations running smoothly.

Healthcare Compliance Manager

Those in management typically have the unique ability to not only understand what healthcare providers must do to care for patients but also understand the policy and work that goes into managing procedure. A consistent healthcare compliance manager is critical to maintain legal and ethical operations as regulations in healthcare can be complex and consistently evolving. These managers will regularly monitor, interpret, and implement healthcare laws, policies, and contracts as they change with the field. These managers ensure adherence to regulatory standards like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

A bachelor’s degree in Medical and Health Services Management opens the door to a wide range of impactful, fast-growing career paths—from medical office management and healthcare compliance to long-term care administration, consulting, and beyond. As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, organizations need leaders who understand both the human and operational sides of care. If students are ready to step into a role where your decisions can improve patient experiences, streamline operations, and support healthier communities, this field offers a meaningful and rewarding future.

At American National University, the Medical and Health Services Management bachelor’s program is designed specifically for busy adults who want to advance their careers without putting their lives on hold. With flexible scheduling, career-focused coursework, and instructors who bring real-world healthcare experience into every lesson, ANU helps you build the practical skills employers look for—from leadership and compliance to finance and health information management. Whether you’re entering the healthcare field for the first time or leveling up your existing experience, ANU provides the support, structure, and knowledge you need to succeed. To learn more about ANU’s program, go to an.edu.

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As a mother and stepmother of five children, the manager to 95 direct reports, and full-time student, Candace Mims is no stranger to hard work and dedication. After graduating from American National University’s, known as National College during that time, Medical Assisting program in 2004, Candace began working full-time at the institution she worked at during her externship. After 17 years at Holston Medical Group (HMG) and several of those managing a big group of people, she decided she needed more management education to help her better service her employees and her patients. She enrolled in our Medical and Health Services Management bachelor’s degree program – and her hard work earned her the recognition of Term Trailblazer for Term 238!

During her first time with ANU in our Medical Assistant program, Candace chose us because she was close to the former Bristol campus. She explains she chose medical assisting because a medical assistant is the one who sat with her during her first rounds of cancer treatment. This medical assistant helped her understand everything she was going through while also comforting her through it. This inspired her to fulfill her role – to be that support for someone else in a vulnerable moment. And her experience in our program helped her not only learn from professors with medical assisting experience, but to network with other students. Along with that, Candace saw that she related to her classmates more. “There were quite a few of us that were not teenagers coming out of high school, going to college. That was nice,” she explains.

While Candace has the clinical expertise needed for her role as Assistant Nurse Manager, she wanted to dive deeper into the business side to better manage the practice and her employees. And she chose ANU again because we offered her entire program online.

“I really enjoyed it – I like the Zoom classes! I like to see people’s faces and know who it is that I’m having discussions with.”

Something that also helped was that her “credits all transferred. So I was able to bring my entire associate’s degree over to my bachelor’s,” she says.

For her classes in the Medical and Health Services program, she says they “hit spot on for what we need to know,” she says because of her experiences within her work.

“I got a lot better understanding of the patient-centered medical homes and the way the insurance company determines our payments… I can sit in the meetings and hear it and know where we’re falling and what our risk value is, but I don’t really understand it. The ‘why’ on it has been ever elusive. My classes have definitely been teaching me that ‘why’,” Candace explains.

She thinks the program is designed exactly as she needed to progress in her career.

A professor she calls out for being excellent, and who also nominated her for Term Trailblazer, is Rhonda Brewer. Candace has had several classes with Rhonda, and she says that consistency has helped her education. “She is very easy to reach, she’s quick to answer questions… she is very encouraging,” she explains. Candace had initial hesitations about speaking too much in classes because of her career experience, but Rhonda pushed her to keep her discussions going. This helped Candace pass on knowledge she gained in her career, as well as helping students who have never worked in a medical office. Candace says that Rhonda made it a point to get to know her students more than just being a professor. “There were times that we logged into Zoom and she would pretty much go around and ask everybody specific things about their week – because she knew what was going on with everybody.”

After earning her bachelor’s degree, Candace plans to stay on the clinical side for “as long as my body holds out.” She explains she wants to work side-by-side with her nurses. And when she can no longer do that, she wants to the administrative side. She wants to make the move into practice management and retire from there in the future.

“I would definitely recommend going to ANU because I have great experiences.” She says.

Her advice to new students: “Watch your Zoom [sessions] again. A lot of times when you’re there and you’re participating, it’s easy to miss other things people are saying. Look back over your slides and take the quizzes a second time if [they’re] offered. Not for the grade, but for the knowledge.”

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What is MHSM?

ANU’s Medical and Health Services Management program provides education, skills, and competencies students need to become managers in healthcare settings. Those in this field work closely with several different departments within a hospital, clinic, medical facilities, long-term care, or other healthcare settings. Not only that, but they are providing leadership through project management, financial competency, and demonstrating quality healthcare for patients.

Many of the job titles that Medical and Health Services Management bachelor’s degree holders are:

• Assisted Living Director
• Clinic Practice Manager
• Patient Safety Director
• Medical Office Coordinator
• Home Health Clinic Manager
• Health Information Manager

Some of the skills that these roles are listed below.

Healthcare Quality Improvement

Improving the quality of healthcare is a key focus for managers in a healthcare setting. Quality improvement is the standard that all medical professionals should follow in patient care. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). describes that it “seeks to standardize processes and structure to reduce variation, achieve predictable results, and improve outcomes for patients, healthcare systems, and organizations.”

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality shares six domains of healthcare quality:

1. Safe – avoiding harm to the patient.
2. Effective – providing care based on the latest scientific information.
3. Patient-centered – patients receive respectful care that is responsive to their needs and values, and that they’re involved in all communications of their health.
4. Timely – reducing wait times to avoid harmful delays.
5. Efficient – avoiding waste, which includes time, energy, supplies, and ideas.
6. Equitable – that the care each patient receives does not vary in quality because of characteristics like gender, ethnicity, location, and socioeconomic status.

Those with a degree in healthcare management will actively work to explore strategies that improve healthcare quality, patient safety, and outcomes. As an example, healthcare managers everywhere are utilizing evidence-based practice as it involves using the best available research, clinical guidelines, and medical literature for decision-making and to improve patient outcomes.

Health Information Systems

A big basis to a degree in healthcare management is health information systems. Sanjuluca et al describe Health Information Systems (HIS) in their article: “A HIS can be defined as a computerised or manual system (on paper) that is designed to meet all the information needs within a hospital.” This ranges from patient records, billing, pharmaceutical information, staffing, accounting, and more. These systems help keep hospitals and medical sites running efficiently. They also help care providers make better decisions with access to records as well as provide efficient health care in a timely manner.

As more and more hospital and clinic sites move into digital realm, so will reports like health and patient records. Medical and health services managers will utilize Electronic Health Records (EHRs) to access comprehensive data about a patient, such as medications, health history, treatments, diagnosis, and more. Those in this field need to know the skills and education they need to not only access this information, coordinate with other healthcare professionals, and enhance care continuity.

Health Care Policy

Those in healthcare management are crucial to maintaining health care policies – as well as policies within their specific medical setting. They are involved in various aspects of healthcare policy development, implementation, and evaluation to ensure efficient and effective healthcare systems. Some of the key responsibilities they hold in policy are:

• Research and Analysis – healthcare managers are always researching and analyzing policies to understand their impact and implications in patient care.
• Policy Development – Along with researching and analyzing policies, medical and health services managers are creating policies based on the evidence they research.
• Compliance and Regulation – Managers stay on top of compliance and regulation of their policies to ensure they adhere to local, state, and federal laws.

Healthcare Ethics

Like managers of any other industry, healthcare managers must ensure that all medical professionals are following healthcare ethics. They work to create an environment where ethical values and principles, such as patient autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice, are prioritized and guide decision-making at all levels. As mentioned previously, they ensure that organizational policies and guidelines align with ethical standards. They review existing policies and propose updates to address ethical considerations, patient rights, privacy, and informed consent.

As patient advocates, those who are in these management roles ensure that informed consent is a part of treatment. They support informed consent processes, ensuring that patients have the necessary information to make autonomous and informed decisions about their care. They also ensure that patients’ autonomy and preferences are respected, and their voices are heard in the decision-making process. This is especially important when it comes to end-of-life care and advanced directives. Managers will assist patients and their families in ensuring that treatment aligns with their wishes.

Stackable Degrees at ANU

At American National University, Medical and Health Services Management can be one of the steppingstones you take to level your way up in healthcare. Many students begin in our Medical Billing and Coding diploma program to gain the foundation they need to break into allied health roles. This gets their foot in the door to several coding careers. Many of our Medical Billing and Coding students don’t just stop at that diploma. They begin our Health Information Management associate degree program to boost their resume and career development. With this, many move into our Medical and Health Services Management bachelor’s degree program to become managers within their field. Armed with experience and education, these professionals move into our Master of Business Administration program – many specializing in Healthcare Management. With so many educational possibilities at ANU, you, too, can work your way up into healthcare management and work on many of the skills and responsibilities mentioned previously.

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