21 High-Paying Health Care Administration Jobs (With Salaries)

Updated September 30, 2022

For those looking to work in health care but who prefer not to work with patients, there are many high-paying health care administration careers to consider. Health care administrators oversee the operations of medical facilities. Learning about what positions you can work in and how much you could earn can help you decide which health care administration job is the best fit for you. In this article, we provide a list of 21 high-paying jobs in health care administration, with average salaries and job duties for each role.

High-paying health care administration jobs

Here are 21 jobs in health care administration where you can earn $60,000 or more per year:

1. Hospital administrator

National average salary: $61,410 per year

Primary duties: A hospital administrator is a manager who oversees the operations of a hospital. They can work independently or as part of a team to ensure that hospitals run effectively and efficiently. These professionals are usually responsible for coordinating those working for the hospital, developing policies to ensure operations run smoothly and communicating standards across hospital departments.

2. Health care project manager

National average salary: $63,659 per year

Primary duties: Health care project managers oversee the development of projects within a health care facility. Their goal is to implement new technologies, equipment, policies and procedures that improve the facilities' functions and increase the quality of care patients receive. The project manager coordinates the project team and ensures everyone understands their role in the team and the goals the team needs to accomplish.

3. Clinical supervisor

National average salary: $66,586 per year

Primary duties: Clinical supervisors oversee the training of medical students and other health care providers in training. They typically work for facilities where students work or train under the direction of an experienced care provider. These supervisors coordinate student training, facilitate positive learning environments, assess student progress and work with students to ensure they meet their training goals.

4. Human resources manager

National average salary: $68,334 per year

Primary duties: In a health care setting, human resources managers are responsible for managing the facilities' staffing needs. Their duties include assessing the staffing needs of their facility or department, hiring new employees, conducting on-boarding and providing regular trainings to improve the professional development of their team. This is an important role because medical institutions need the right employees to support the health needs of their patients.

5. Clinic manager

National average salary: $69,392 per year

Primary duties: A clinic manager oversees the functioning of medical clinics. They review its staffing, financing and policymaking needs and implement structures to support its operations. Some daily responsibilities of clinic managers include hiring new employees, creating work schedules, monitoring budgets, leading meetings, communicating between clinic departments and filing employee paperwork.

6. Medical health and services manager

National average salary: $71,592 per year

Primary duties: A medical health and services manager is another type of administrative specialist who develops and implements strategies that keep health facilities running smoothly. These professionals recruit employees, develop and maintain budgets, manage patient records, create work schedules, coordinate care and services and communicate with leaders from various facility departments. Medical health and services managers can work in various settings, including hospitals and independent clinics.

7. Health care consultant

National average salary: $77,501 per year

Primary duties: Health care consultants use good business practices to work with hospitals, insurance providers and other health care facilities to develop budgets that reduce costs, increase revenue and help businesses meet their financial goals. These professionals meet with managers, directors and other employees to determine the areas of financial need for a facility. They draft budgets and meet with administrators to recommend financial strategies based on the institution's unique needs and goals.

8. Nurse manager

National average salary: $83,385 per year

Primary duties: A nurse manager is a nursing leader who oversees the management of a facility's nursing department. Not only do they perform their duties as nurses who provide patient care, but they also facilitate the operations of their nursing unit. Their duties include managing staff and patient cases, planning treatments, monitoring budgets, creating educational and training plans, managing records, mentoring and planning patient discharges. Nurse managers apply their experience, leadership and organizational skills to excel in their roles.

9. Director of operations

National average salary: $86,416 per year

Primary duties: The director of operations of a medical facility maintains its daily operations, identifies opportunities for growth and coordinates its use of resources. They direct the business side of a medical facility's operations by assessing its financial needs and managing its public relations. Those in this position typically have an advanced degree, such as a master's in health care management or business administration. Their job is essential for ensuring that medical facilities have the financial resources needed to provide a high quality of care for their patients.

10. Informatics manager

National average salary: $88,481 per year

Primary duties: The informatics manager of a health care facility leads its informatics team by overseeing how they analyze and manage health information. Hospitals and other health care facilities collect extensive amounts of data regarding patient care. Having the right technological support systems to store, maintain and analyze that data is essential to the functioning of a health care facility.

11. Human resources director

National average salary: $89,278 per year

Primary duties: The human resources director is the person in charge of planning, leading and assessing the administrative tasks within the human resources department. This includes hiring human resources employees, coordinating current employees and implementing policies to help the human resources department function smoothly. A human resources director has an important role in ensuring that the administrative team of a health care facility functions well so that they can support the operations of the institution.

12. Director of nursing

National average salary: $90,027 per year

Primary duties: A director of nursing is a registered nurse who leads their department's administrative responsibilities. They combine their knowledge of clinical practice, management and leadership to direct the operations of their nursing department. These nurses often have more responsibilities than nurse managers, but fewer than chief nursing officers and nurse executives. This is a mid-level nurse management position.

13. Nursing home administrator

National average salary: $94,636 per year

Primary duties: A nursing home administrator is an administration specialist who supervises the operations of nursing homes. They have similar responsibilities to administrators in other types of health care facilities. Professionals in this role oversee the staffing needs of their institution, manage budgets, create work schedules and handle employee concerns. Nursing home administrators apply their leadership and organizational skills to keep operations running smoothly. This job is especially important since nursing homes operate at all hours to care for long-term residents who often have complex health care needs.

14. Pharmaceutical manager

National average salary: $111,922 per year

Primary duties: A pharmaceutical manager facilitates the operations of a pharmaceutical institution. They can oversee the operations of a commercial pharmacy or a private pharmaceutical research facility. Like other types of managers, they're responsible for deciding the facility's staffing needs, budgets and tasks of daily operation. Most pharmaceutical managers are qualified pharmacists who have worked in the industry for many years to earn their administrative position.

15. Hospital chief information officer

National average salary: $115,139 per year

Primary duties: A hospital chief information officer manages the people and technology within a hospital's information technology department. They assess the hospital's technology needs and evaluate the development of new technologies to determine how to apply technological devices in a hospital setting. These professionals identify the needs of an organization and determine what technology best fits those needs or can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of health care processes. This is a high-level position that takes many years of experience to earn.

16. Chief financial officer

National average salary: $128,009 per year

Primary duties: The chief financial officer of a health care organization oversees the management of its financial needs. They assess the facility's monetary needs, create financial plans, evaluate risks, and manage the facility's record-keeping and reporting. A chief financial officer collects financial data and analyzes it to determine the best strategy for improving the facility's financial functioning.

17. Chief nursing officer

National average salary: $133,560 per year

Primary duties: A chief nursing officer leads the nursing department of a hospital. They're senior managers who have many years of nursing experience and work to optimize the functioning of a facility's nursing team. Chief nursing officers apply best practices to creating efficient nursing environments. They uphold a high standard of patient care for nurses by creating and implementing policies that improve the work environment. Additionally, they represent the nursing department in executive meetings, assess the effectiveness of department policies and promote opportunities for training and professional development for those they oversee.

18. Pharmacy director

National average salary: $148,239 per year

Primary duties: A pharmacy director oversees the employees at a commercial pharmacy. They combine their knowledge of business, management and pharmaceuticals to keep pharmacies functioning effectively. These professionals direct the operations of the pharmacy to meet business objectives while serving clients and supporting the needs of its employees.

19. Senior managing director of health care

National average salary: $155,100 per year

Primary duties: The senior managing director of a health care organization is a top-level executive who deals with the business aspect of running a medical facility. These professionals typically work with a team that includes the chief executive officer, chief financial officer, administrators and other high-level executives. As a member of the executive board, the senior managing director collaborates with other facility leaders to plan business strategies that support the daily operations of a medical facility.

20. Chief nursing executive

National average salary: $158,671 per year

Primary duties: The chief nursing executive is the highest level of nursing administration. They are responsible for all nursing services across all departments of a hospital or other health care institution. A chief nursing executive works under the hospital's CEO and has both administrative and supervisory duties. Most chief nursing executives have a master's degree or higher and have many years of experience working as nurses.

21. Chief medical officer

National average salary: $216,712 per year

Primary duties: A chief medical officer manages the doctors who work for a health care facility. They train new physicians and keep the facility's current doctors up to date on the most recent laws and policies. Some of their daily responsibilities include evaluating and updating current processes, consulting with physicians to offer advice and guidance, developing budgets, securing funding and managing the facility's community engagement and public relations.

21 High-Paying Health Care Administration Jobs (With Salaries)

High-paying health care administration jobs

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