Health Care Industry Career Description
The
health care industry is the largest industry reported by the Bureau
of Labor Statistics, and with 15% of the nation's GDP being spent on
health care, it has tremendous growth potential. The MBA will find
opportunities through out the health care industry. There will be
opportunities in finance (corporate and investment), marketing,
strategy, consulting, business development, operations management
and administration.
The
health care industry is comprised of different segments that are
clustered geographically. These include payers, pharmaceuticals,
medical device, biotechnology, specialty services and information
technology. Though there are opportunities all over the country,
the major heal care markets are the Northeast, California, Atlanta,
Minnesota, Nashville/Memphis, Chicago and Central Texas. Where the
MBA is most valued with vary by segment. Key areas for a hospital
or managed care company might be in operations management; for a
biotech or pharmaceutical company marketing; for a medical device
company manufacturing. MBA career options will depend on the
health care segment and the business strategy of the individual
company.
|
Health Care Providers |
Patient care providers include hospitals,
surgery centers, long term care facilities, specialty acute care
clinics and primary care physician practices. An MBA might
start as an administrator or an internal corporate analyst with
a career path to a COO or CFO position. Hospitals and other
health care providers find previous experience in health care
desirable, but also understand the value of operations
experience in other industries that demonstrate the ability to
reduce costs and increase revenue. Hospitals are less reliant
on the marketing function and typically rely on a PR approach to
get exposure in the market. Therefore, financial and operation
management sills are most desirable. Hospital firms include:
HCA, Kaiser Permanente and St. John Health. Other care
providers include MedCath, Psychiatric Solutions, AmSurg and
United Surgical. |
|
Health Care Plans/Payers |
These are managed care plans and insurance
companies. Major players include Humana, Cigna, Aetna, Blue
Cross Blue Shield. |
|
Health Care Products |
This group consists of biotech, pharmaceutical and medical
device companies. These companies have greater need for
product and brand management skills. In biotech/pharma
companies there is a high demand for candidates with science
backgrounds; however MBAs with little experience in the sciences
can find opportunities in sales, marketing and business
development. On the marketing side of this segment prior sales
experience is extremely desirable. Many companies like to see
that managers have experience "carrying the bag." With these
product-base companies, there is the manufacturing side of the
business, and MBAs will find opportunities in operations and
supply chain management. Biotech firms include Amgen,
Genentech and Applied Biosystems. Big Pharma includes:
Pfizer, Abbott, Merck, Eil Lilly and Roche. Medical device
firms include Medtronic, Stryker, Boston Scientific, GE
Healthcare and Smith & Nephew. |
|
Specialty Products and Service
Providers |
There are a number of emerging sectors in the health care
industry. For example, disease management companies need strong
data analysis, information technology and marketing
communication skills. MBAs will also find opportunities in
corporate in corporate finance roles throughout the industry, or
with venture capital firms evaluating the feasibility of
bringing new health care products or services to market. Other
specialty service that support the industry's growth would
include companies that compile market intelligence and provide
data analysis tools. Firms in this group include: Healthways,
AIM and WebMD. |
|
Consulting |
Most major consulting firms have specific
health care practices, and there are boutique firms that
specialize in health care strategy and information technology.
Large corporations will have internal consulting groups. Major
consulting firms include: McKinsey, Navigant and
PricewaterhouseCooper. Boutique firms include The Advisory
Board and ChapterHouse. |
More job description on health care industry:
|
