The Difference Between Healthcare Administration and Health Service Administration

Healthcare administration and health service administration both deal with insurance claims and other issues. So what is the difference between the two?

If you pursue healthcare administration training, your studies will address the broader field of healthcare, including anything related to doctors, nurses, pharmacists, prescriptions, procedures, etc. The payments that go to medical personnel are included in the purview of someone who handles something as broad as healthcare administration.

In health services administration, you are dealing only with what you receive in the process of being treated. This subtle difference means that a certain office who handles only certain types of patients or procedures is administrating health services that they provide. However, that work is specific to the office that they are a part of. This means that you, as the health services administrator, would be well-versed in what goes on in a particular industry. Because of this, the administration is done differently because the claims do not reach outside of the bounds of the office or practice.

When looking at the differences between these two terms, you must remember that the healthcare industry is quite large and varied. Not only can it be easy to learn the difference, but it can be easy for you to work in either realm. Also, patients should know the difference between the two jobs so that there is never any confusion when it comes to claims.