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Biostatistics for Health Care Administrators

Biostatistics is a subgroup of statistics, which focuses on medicine, epidemiology (spread of disease), and public health. While biostatistics may sound like a highly technical subfield, its insights can help shape the direction of health care policies and treatments, making it an essential field for health care administrators. Decisions are made on the administrative level every day and many of these decisions are made based on statistics. In order to make effective and timely decisions, you must be able to interpret and understand available data about health care.

Who Studies Biostatistics?
Unlike when hospitals and medical facilities were small, locally owned businesses, the health care systems of today need health care administrators who are able to integrate the health care delivery systems, understand and work with technological innovations, and navigate the increasingly complex regulations associated with delivering top notch health care. A thorough understanding of biostatistics can help health care administrators live up to the tasks.

While many master's degree programs in health administration include courses in biostatistics, you may also choose to earn a master's degree in biostatistics itself. There are two types of master's degrees in biostatistics: Master of Science (MS) and Master of Public Health (MPH). The MS degree is a research/academic degree that focuses on principles of biostatistics. The MPH degree, on the other hand, focuses on public health practice and applying the insights of biostatistics to public health issues.

Typical Biostatistics Courses
Although courses may vary a bit between universities, coursework in biostatistics may include:

Statistical Computer Program Packages
Application of Regression Analysis to Public Health Studies
Statistical Methods in Epidemiology
Health Applications of Multivariate Analysis
Advanced Topics in Computational Statistics

Understanding biostatistics usually requires prerequisites such as college-level statistics and basic algebra.

What Are Biostatistician Salaries and Job Outlooks Like?
The employment outlook for health care administrators is good and having a biostatistics background can only help enhance what you can bring to the job. Large institutions, academia, and government continue to need highly trained administrators who can understand and work with the volumes of statistics that can be produced at any given time.
Salaries for health care administrators are, like most careers, quite variable depending on where you are working and how much experience you have. If you are already working in health care administration, moving ahead by obtaining a MPH could enhance your employability and result in significant salary increases. The median annual salary in 2009 for medical and health services managers was $81,850; the top ten percent of earners in the field took home more than $140,300.

Earn your Healthcare Administration Degree Online

Explore these accredited online healthcare administration degree programs below and request free no obligation information from any that interest you.

We recommend getting information from several schools so you can compare the programs, costs, time commitments and financial aid options.

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University of Phoenix

With convenient class locations as well as online learning, University of Phoenix makes quality higher education highly accessible. Whether you're seeking an associate's, bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree, we can help you reach your goal while you work-and much sooner than you might expect.

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American InterContinental University Online

The Healthcare Administration programs at AIU combine a core education in business with critical topics in healthcare management, such as organizational structures within the healthcare industry, ethics, and healthcare marketing.

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Kaplan University Online

The Kaplan University’s Health Care Administration degree programs will help prepare you to serve as a health care professional and to pursue supervisory roles industry wide.

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Argosy University

The Healthcare Administration program at Argosy University is targeted to enhance skills in the areas of the financial, organizational and the changing dynamics of the healthcare market.

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Capella University

The Health Care Administration programs at Capella University cover a wide range of health care management topics, including managed care, policy, law, finance, quality improvement and other course work designed to enhance your ability to successfully guide and strengthen the delivery of health services to consumers.

Programs offered:

Health Care Administration (Master's)
Health Care Administration (Doctoral)

Grand Canyon University

The Master of Science in Health Care Administration (MSHCA) provides the skills and experience necessary to perform as middle- and upper-level managers in a variety of health care organizations, and to serve as innovative change agents and leaders of organizational improvement and adaptation within the health care industry.

Programs offered:

Health Care Administration (Master)

South University

Gain real-world experience in the healthcare management field before completing your degree through an internship program with healthcare facilities that might include hospitals, nursing homes, ambulatory care facilities, physician practices, and pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies.

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Walden University

Develop the skills, knowledge, and expertise in health care management needed for leadership positions across the spectrum of health care delivery organizations.

Programs offered:

Healthcare Administration (Master's)