While there are a very small number of women in construction management, engineering and production management, the figures are very different in in other occupations. When it comes to education, human resources and social and community services, the number of female managers outstrip their male counterparts almost 2 to 1.

As this study shows from the US board of labor and statistics, in the field of medical and health service management, nearly three quarters of the managers are women. For that reason, this article will take a closer look at that role, and the rewards and responsibilities involved.

What does a health service manager do?

As you might expect, the list of responsibilities in such a key role is quite a long one. They are tasked with developing and improving healthcare services, managing resources, (both human and medical) as well as controlling budgets and organizing records. These disciplines are best explained by using these three examples:

Practice Manager

While, of course, other types of health service manager exist, this is probably the first one that springs to mind, so it can be investigated in the most depth. They will run the day-to-day operations of the practice or medical center to make sure that everything needs to be in the right place at the right time in the most cost-efficient manner possible.

• This will involve hiring and scheduling many medical professionals and support staff at all levels to meet the needs of the practice.
• Sourcing medical supplies including scanners, blood pressure monitors, a range of pharmaceuticals and even stationary supplies from reliable and cost-effective suppliers.
• Overseeing all of the admin and record keeping of the practice and controlling the important team that does this.

The majority of Practice Managers will have a Bachelors or Master’s degree, and earn a salary between $79K and $140K.

Nursing home administrators

Like a practice manager, they will manage staff and finances, but also oversee admissions and the overall care of the residents in the home that they are in charge of. As you might expect, this role involves being licensed, regardless of which state you are in, however, the requirements of the license will vary for state to state.

Information managers

In a data driven world, the amount of information that can be collected on each patient will be substantial. While this can improve patient care and treatment, that data needs to be stored somewhere it is both accessible to those who need it, but inaccessible to those who may steal or exploit it. For that reason, in some situations looking after patient records will go beyond being part of a practice managers role and become a position all of its own.

A few final thoughts

It is probably not news that overall, there are more male than female managers. However, there are some professions where the number of women in key influential roles outstrips the number of men, and especially in health service management where this complicated and vital role is carried out predominantly by women, be they practice managers, care home administrators or information managers.