Healthcare Administrator Shares Career Experience And Advice
Mark Lindberg has over 15 years of operations management experience and is the Senior Executive Director at Laser Spine Institute. Lindberg was a business major at Florida State University; and is a board certified administrator at the surgery center and a certified professional healthcare risk manager.
Can you describe your duties as a health care administrator?
"I oversee all aspects of our operations including: financial management and budgeting, regulatory compliance, quality improvement, human resources and employee satisfaction and managing our patients' overall experience when they come for a medical evaluation or for surgery.
It's my job to evaluate and assess our people and how we are caring for our patients to ensure we are delivering optimal surgical outcomes, and providing the very best possible experience in an uplifting and positive environment."
How has education prepared you for your career in healthcare administration?
"As a healthcare administrator, education is constant. A solid foundation, a proven capacity to learn complex concepts and effective written and verbal communication, as well as an understanding of basic organizational behavior and management concepts are very important to my role. I have worked with many talented managers and directors, and I have seen how real world experience can be as much of an asset as an advanced degree."
What continuing education is required for your role?
"The healthcare landscape is evolving, and administrators need to be proactive in educating themselves on how these changes are going to impact their organization. It is important that medical practice managers or hospital administrators demonstrate proficiency in the delivery of patient care, financial management, quality management, regulatory and legal issues and human resources. The Board of Ambulatory Surgery Certification, American Hospital Association and Medical Group Management Association offer resources, training programs and correlating industry leading certifications such as, Certified Administrator Surgery Center (CASC), Certified Professional Healthcare Risk Manager (CPHRM) and Certified Professional Medical Executive (CPME), all helpful in advancing one's career in the healthcare field. As a requirement for maintaining a designation, these certifications require continuing education in these disciplines."
What advice would you give someone just starting out?
"Be consistent, be accountable, be a person of action and above all, listen. Administrators are essentially information managers - the more informed we are equates to more educated and effective decisions. The staff comes to rely on our consistency as a model of what right looks like, we are on the job at all times and our actions speak as loudly as our words, so be consistent. Accountability is everything! If the team can't rely on you and the values you promote, then they will not confide in you, and ultimately you start missing key information. Be a person of action. Feedback and information are what drive positive change. Above all, listen. A good administrator knows how to listen for themes and consolidate the information to make sound business decisions."
Christina Thompson is a freelance writer living in Philadelphia. She reports on various topics such as: Social Media, Local Events, Entertainment, Food and Drink and more. Her work can be found at http://firstsendmedia.com/