{"id":2298,"date":"2015-06-22T01:00:13","date_gmt":"2015-06-22T06:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/?p=2298"},"modified":"2017-01-18T16:44:40","modified_gmt":"2017-01-18T22:44:40","slug":"master-of-health-administration-vs-mba-in-health-care-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/master-of-health-administration-vs-mba-in-health-care-management\/","title":{"rendered":"The Difference Between an MHA and MBA in Health Care Management"},"content":{"rendered":"

Due to the aging of the Baby Boomer generation and the growing regulatory environment around health care, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that health care management jobs will increase 23% between 2012 and 2022<\/a>. Health administration in particular often necessitates a person have a master\u2019s degree to move up the ranks in almost any position.<\/p>\n

Capella University offers two specific master\u2019s degrees in health care management\u2014the Master of Health Administration (MHA)<\/a> and the Master of Business Administration (MBA), Specialization in Health Care Management<\/a>. Dr. Janet Balke, faculty member in the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, and Dr. Cheryl Bann, faculty chair of the MBA Program in the School of Business, explain the degree differences.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u2019s the Difference Between an MHA and an MBA in Health Care Management?<\/h4>\n

While both programs cover health care management, the difference lies in the approach and focus. The MBA is a business degree with a health care specialization, while the MHA is an immersive health care management degree.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe MHA is very unique. Health care is a heavily regulated industry, and the MHA includes industry-specific courses, regulatory courses\u2014it\u2019s very health-care immersive,\u201d explained Dr. Balke.<\/p>\n

Dr. Bann agreed. \u201cThe MHA is much more specific to health care, while the MBA has more of a business focus. There is some overlap, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

So how do you decide which is the right path for you? \u201cIt depends on which facet of health care you choose to work in,\u201d said Balke. \u201cAn MHA is focused entirely around this very unique industry and prepares you to work in a hospital or clinical administration setting, while the MBA allows you more latitude across industries, including related health care companies, like medical devices.\u201d<\/p>\n

To look more closely at how these two programs differ, let\u2019s consider them separately.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The MHA<\/h4>\n

MHA students will find themselves heavily involved in all aspects of health care management. \u201cThe average hospital may have up to 100 regulatory agencies to report to,\u201d said Balke. \u201cSo the MHA program includes coursework in health policy and law. Due to the complexity and regulatory nature of health care, we have to have a multi-faceted approach.\u201d She notes that the MHA is focused on skill building around the health care industry so students are able to go to work right away with a greater understanding of the complexities in this field, such as health-care-related financial skills, IT, organizational structure and awareness, and project management, among others.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another aspect too: \u201cThe MHA requires more soft people skills,\u201d said Balke. \u201cMost industries don\u2019t have this many subsectors\u2014pregnancy, pediatrics, right through to geriatrics. Every phase of life has a sub-specialty, and they have different regulations, focal points, monitoring points, all of which require specific people skills and the ability to feel empathy. The MHA prepares the student for those.\u201d While a traditional MBA focuses on goods and services, the core business unit of the MHA is human services\u2014which can be chaotic and unpredictable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The MBA<\/h4>\n

An MBA in Health Care Management has more of an overall business focus, with less time spent on policy and more time spent on operations and business. \u201cIt\u2019s meant for potential leaders on the business side of health care, such as at the executive levels,\u201d said Bann. \u201cThey need to know business functions like accounting, finance, etc.<\/p>\n

MBA students are not going to be as interested in policy and law as they are in business topics and how the business operates as a whole. So while an MHA candidate will learn about health-care-specific financial or IT operations, the MBA candidate will learn about those topics in a broader business-based sense.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Career Paths: Which Is Right for You?<\/h4>\n

Both programs provide a thorough grounding in certain aspects of health care management, but the primary question is: What do you want to do with your master\u2019s degree once you\u2019ve earned it?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in managing the regulatory environment of a health care system, working with policy, managing a clinic, or work in the senior level of a hospital or clinic, the MHA is the best approach.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested less in policy and regulations, and more in operations and the business, the MBA is the best approach. From there, a student can look at being a hospital administrator, a clinic or department director. There is more leeway with the MBA to move across industries to organizations like insurance companies, medical device companies or other medically related businesses, or even into teaching.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Learn more about Capella\u2019s <\/em>Master of Health Administration<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>MBA in Health Care Management<\/em><\/a> degree programs.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Want to take your health care management career to the next level? Discover the difference between an MHA and an MBA before committing to a program. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":2334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12,13],"tags":[46,118,31,16],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2298"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5495,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298\/revisions\/5495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}