The Business of Waiting Rooms

Tick. Tick. Tick.

I could hear the clock beating out the heartbeat of the universe. My own heart was pounding at twice the cosmic rhythm. The receptionist’s acrylic nails clacked on the keyboard behind the glass window. The bubbles in the large fish tank seemed like the rapid breaths of a hyperventilating guppy. My anxiety grew with every set of footsteps that walked behind the door leading to the clinical wing. “How long would I need to sit in this waiting room?”
Many of us can relate to the fear, vulnerability, and pain that accompanies being a patient, and if given the opportunity, we would try to alleviate this suffering. Feeling this desire to help, we likely have considered becoming a doctor at one point or another. Yet, the thought of ever becoming a medical provider was quickly forgotten years ago after that first week of freshman chemistry, not to mention when we learned about the student debt required for medical school.
Instead, the business world attracted us, and we learned how innovative management principles make the world run more efficiently. Business was our new career destiny. Yet, what about our desire to help those suffering patients?
While hospitals and doctor’s offices may appear to be just a collection of physicians and nurses, there is, in reality, an entire field dedicated to masterminding and organizing medical care to better serve patients and, hence, reduce the anxiety of waiting rooms. This field is healthcare management. Healthcare management professionals have taken their business skills and applied them to running an industry that is desperate for business leadership.
Although the sciences may have perhaps been a strong deterrent to entering healthcare, business students should consider entering healthcare management as a unique, yet essential, approach to serving patients. Students that explore this field will find that this profession synthesizes multiple business and leadership skills, offers ample opportunity for industry expansion, and makes a meaningful impact on the lives of the patients and providers they serve.
A Blend of Business and Health
Director Dan Mangelson of Pediatric Cancer Services at Primary Children’s Hospital has spent extensive time contemplating the patient experience. He has both observed it from a hospital management perspective and experienced it as the father of a three-year-old girl who has battled years of medical complications associated with Down-Syndrome. He describes his role in healthcare management as “[making] the process of receiving healthcare better.” ¹
Healthcare Manager, Healthcare Administrator, or Medical and Health Services Manager are titles that describe the business professionals who dedicate their efforts to helping healthcare providers deliver care and services to patients in an effective and organized manner. According to the U.S. News and World Report, they “are the planners, directors and coordinators who work behind the scenes to keep hospitals, nursing homes, group practices and other health care facilities running efficiently,” and then adds, “In short, they are super-organized professionals.”²
A Jack-of-All-Business-Trades

In an industry with a variety of needs, healthcare administrators for both large and small clinics are often called on to fulfill multiple business roles. As such, these professionals become wellrounded leaders in everything from IT to finance as they deal with a host of diverse issues every day. The Occupational Information Network outlines skills required to perform in this role They include skills in information systems, human resources, customer service, strategic planning, effective communication, and judgment and decision making (Figure 1).³ Besides these skills, remaining personable, thinking creatively, and being people-oriented are key to connecting well with both staff and patients.⁴
Furthermore, Mangelson emphasizes that an essential characteristic for those who wish to enjoy a career in this field is being a mission driven leader. ⁵ Business students seeking to maintain a diverse and current skill set while feeling motivated by a drive to help others will find that healthcare keeps them on their toes.

Never a Dull Moment

Applying these diverse skills in daily work makes the lives of healthcare administrators colorful. Mangelson enthusiastically described that healthcare leaders have a wide range of responsibilities.⁶ Examples include doing a walk-through of new patient rooms with construction contractors or leading a meeting with local police and the ER staff focused on developing procedures for dealing with injured crime suspects. On another day, they could be strategizing with doctors about how to manage a seasonal influx of patients or volunteering to do auxiliary tasks so that the nurses can be free to attend to their patients. Every day presents unique challenges that create a dynamic work environment and eliminate boredom.
Besides their variety of responsibilities, healthcare managers also associate with a diverse group of individuals including doctors, nurses, technicians, and custodians. In addition, fellow managers come from a wide range of undergraduate backgrounds including economics, marketing, accounting, IS, psychology, and neuroscience, according to Mangelson.⁷ This mixture of experiences and skill sets allows each administrator to approach their work with a unique perspective and solve problems in effective ways. ⁸
The dynamic nature of healthcare management is rich soil for those business students who aspire to develop and apply their business skills while avoiding monotony and stagnation.

An Expanding Industry

Although healthcare management offers ample room for personal growth, knowing how well the industry itself is growing is an important factor to consider for upcoming professionals. Fortunately, for those pursuing this occupation, both the number of jobs and the scope of the field are increasing.
Quantitative Growth

Every year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a report with key metrics and predictions for each occupation. One of these core metrics is a prediction of job growth over the next decade. Job growth predictions communicate to the economy how many new jobs will be created in the industry and, hence, how easily someone attempting to enter that industry will be able to find a job. High growth infers that a new entrant will find employment easily.
In their 2020 report, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, projected jobs in healthcare management to grow far faster than other business management roles (Figure 2).⁹
According to the data, healthcare managers can expect to see a 32% increase in jobs while financial managers will see growth that is barely above half that rate.¹⁰ Furthermore, the forecasts show that the rate of expansion for healthcare management is nearly three times that of other managerial positions and four times the average growth rate. ¹¹ Backed by predictions for strong growth, healthcare management is a promising field for upcoming business professionals.
Categorical Growth

Along with the increasing number of positions are the types of jobs that are becoming possibilities in healthcare management. Healthcare is an expansive industry with many complex and difficult issues yet to be resolved. As such, there are intense needs and endless opportunities for healthcare innovation. These potential innovations span not only longstanding domains such as insurance but also newer disciplines such as telehealth.¹² The growing need for innovation in these various faucets of healthcare provides business-minded leaders a wide-range of options so they can choose a sector for which they have a particular affinity and expertise.
Both the quantitative job growth and the widening categorical scope of healthcare management assure new entrants of a secure and tailored career.
A Satisfying Profession
Despite these promising horizons, however, students who feel the pressure of the competitive business world often adopt a narrow perspective of the career choices available to them. Too often, they become obsessed with capturing a job at a major company such as Goldman Sachs or Deloitte and Touche because they believe it is the key to a successful career. However, healthcare management is an alternative to these hyper-prioritized positions that can be much more satisfactory and impactful.
A Quality Career
The U.S. News and World Report annually publishes a “Best Jobs” ranking. This ranking evaluates professions based on a combination of factors including median salary, stress levels, unemployment rate, and work-life balance. In 2021, Medical and Health Services Managers ranked #1 in “Best Business Jobs” and #4 in “100 Best Jobs” overall. ¹³ This report indicates the high-quality, high-satisfactory work that this field offers. A Meaningful Impact While rankings, such as the one above, show just how excellent a career healthcare management is, the deepest job satisfaction is found in the personal, visible impact made by healthcare managers in their daily work. Managers help to both improve the patient’s experience and remove barriers that limit the provider’s ability to offer quality care. Their efforts can reduce waiting times, connect patients with competent caregivers, prevent understaffing and overworking, and improve employee job satisfaction, among many other things.
Without performing surgeries or doing health evaluations, healthcare managers contribute to the process of healing and recovery by utilizing their business skills to improve the healthcare environment. In Dan Mangelson’s words, “I am in the business of helping people who are hurt, sick, and vulnerable… It’s a neat opportunity to be part of people’s lives and make a difference.”¹⁴
It is no surprise that healthcare administration is ranked #1 among best business jobs when recognizing the positive impact they make on the lives of those who are physically, emotionally, and temporally in need.

A Quieter Clock

There is much about healthcare that is imperfect and inefficient, and it needs talented business leaders to identify and treat these management illnesses so medical professionals can treat their patients’ needs with greater attention and care. Business students that begin now to gear their career preparations toward healthcare administration will find themselves entering an enjoyable, growing, and meaningful profession. To prepare, they can start by joining a campus healthcare administration club, networking with professionals in the field, or volunteering at local clinics and hospitals to gain exposure to the field.
As upcoming managers apply their skills to this niche of business, they will help to relieve the anxiety and distresses of the patients they serve so that the next time they enter a waiting room, the only pounding will be ticking of the clock on the wall.

End Notes:

1 Mangleson, Dan (Services Line Manager) in discussion with the author, October 2021.
2 “Medical and Health Services Manager.” U.S. News Careers. U.S. News and World Report. Accessed November 16, 2021. https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/medicaland-health-services-manager.
3 “Medical and Health Services Managers.” O*NET OnLine. Accessed November 16, 2021. https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/11-9111.001.
4 Briggs, DS, and G Isouard. “The Language of Health Reform and Health Management: Critical Issues in the Management of Health Systems.” Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management 11, no. 3 (January 2016): 38–44.
5 Mangleson, October 2021.
6 Mangleson, October 2021.
7 Mangleson, October 2021.
8 Briggs, “The Language of Health,” January 2016.
9 “Medical and Health Services Managers: Occupational Outlook Handbook.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 8, 2021. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/medical-andhealth-services-managers.htm.
10 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 8, 2021.
11 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 8, 2021.
12 Mangleson, October 2021.
13 “Best Business Jobs.” U.S. News Careers. U.S. News and World Report. Accessed November 16, 2021. https://money.usnews.com/careers/bestjobs/rankings/best-business-jobs.
14 Mangelson, October 2021.