Importance of Computer Skills for an Effective Health Administrator

Healthcare Administrators must have up-to-date computer skills in order to be an effective employee to any business operation. Health Administrators must be familiar with the particular scheduling program and databases used by the company, including spreadsheets, word processors, e-mail, and any other programs typically used in the industry. Additionally, a Health Administrator must be efficient at data entry because at any point in time, an administrator may be called upon to step in and complete the day-to-day operations of another worker in addition to the responsibilities that are the normal activities of an Health Administrator.

It is essential that prior to obtaining your degree in Health Administration, I should make sure it is accredited by The Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). Courses that are required will cover the tech side, such as database security, data analysis, coding and classification systems, and information management. Coursework will also cover the medical side, such as medical terminology, anatomy, and physiology.

Any additional training in science or computer science would boost my competitive edge. Continuing education will also be important, as technology is always changing, and medicine will be on the forefront of that, utilizing the latest and most efficient systems. Beginning a career in healthcare administration must possess an array of professional and management skills in addition to a strong fundamental understanding of the field of healthcare. Proficient computer skills are a prime example of an essential management tool for healthcare administrators.

My objective is to research which computer skills are the most important to senior healthcare executives and recent healthcare administration graduates and examine the level of agreement between the two groups. Based on a survey of interviews from senior heath care executives, I have concluded from senior healthcare executives from the Boca Raton Community Hospital and graduated healthcare administration students that have BA’s in Health Administration who hold an entry level position at the Boca Raton Community Hospital, have identified a comprehensive and pragmatic array of computer kills that are necessary to be a HA. They have categorized these skills into four groups. According to their importance, for making recent health administration graduates valuable in the healthcare workplace. Traditional parametric hypothesis tests are used to assess congruency between responses of senior executives and of recent healthcare administration graduates. For each skill, responses of the two groups are averaged to create an overall ranking of the computer skills. Not surprisingly, both groups agreed on the importance of computer skills for recent healthcare administration graduates.

In particular, computer skills such as word processing, graphics and presentation, using operating systems, creating and editing databases, spreadsheet analysis, using imported data, e-mail, using electronic bulletin boards, and downloading information were among the highest ranked computer skills necessary for recent graduates to be considered for employment. Because a Health Administrator deals with the day-to-day operations of the healthcare business. Record keeping skills including the knowledge of keeping records for payroll purposes, taking inventory, and supervising other employees are absolutely necessary to hold the position as a HA.

In addition, supervisory skills, such as team leadership, effective problem solving skills, conflict management, and time management are equally essential to the position of a HA. A Healthcare Administrator must use these skills to ensure that the business mission is completed on a daily basis. This, of course, involves the ability to effectively communicate with the company’s employees, business clients, and other various office visitors that they may come in contact within the business. Without a thorough education in computer technology, it would not be possible to hold a position as a Healthcare Administrator.