Perhaps you’re wondering whether you really need a healthcare administration degree to succeed in healthcare, or if an advanced business degree just as good. Healthcare is significantly different from other industries. It has its own reimbursement mechanism, which is based on third-party payers, its own ethics issues, including life-and-death issues, and its own policy issues, with specific government regulations.
An MBA program will likely have courses on leadership, marketing, managerial finance, communication, and other subjects designed to help you become a business manager or consultant. You can also specialize in specific areas such as human resource management or project management. Some of the top MBA programs even offer a healthcare management specialization—but that specialization still requires you to take core business courses.
All courses taken in an MHA program should be about issues related to healthcare. Typical courses include Contemporary Topics in the U.S. Healthcare Delivery System; Law, Ethics, and Policy in Healthcare Administration; Healthcare Operations Management; and Healthcare Quality Management. In other words, MHA courses should be designed to give you an in-depth understanding of the business of healthcare, while MBA courses take a broader approach to business.