Reading blogs by thought leaders in the healthcare industry offers valuable insight into what you can expect to encounter as a healthcare administrator. Since administration is such a wide field, there are a variety of blogs that can help you grow whether you’re still studying or have already established a career.
HIPAA Blog
Although the archives of this blog stop at 2011, there’s plenty of HIPAA information to help healthcare administrators learn more about compliance and how the laws have changed. With categories like security, training, technology and law, it’s possible to find details about every area affected by HIPAA regulations. A “Compliant Software” category discusses tools and programs that healthcare providers can use to manage patient care without compromising privacy. Since HIPAA enforcement is so important in today’s medical world, this is a must-read blog for anyone going into the field of administration.
Healing Hospitals
Written by Nick Jacobs, FACHE, this blog provides resources and advice for hospital administrators and CEOs. Jacobs uses the “Healthcare Administration” category to relate personal experiences, discuss current issues and address the social and cultural influences that are affecting the field of healthcare. Over two decades of experience in hospital management makes Jacobs a valuable resource to follow, and he enhances his text by sharing relevant videos and other media. If you’re looking for a diverse blog that touches on a multitude of issues affecting today’s healthcare professionals, Healing Hospitals belongs on your blog roll.
Journal of Healthcare Leadership
Whether you want to read more about leadership in the healthcare sector or share your own thoughts with others, this online journal goes beyond the realm of blogging to provide free, open-access resources to all healthcare professionals. You can read papers submitted by others from 2009 through the present to get different perspectives on how to handle management and administration. If you have something that you’d like to add, the journal accepts submissions to help diversify its offerings on subjects such as care quality, leadership approaches, skill building and challenges in the field.
Health Care Renewal
With the mission of “addressing threats to healthcare’s core values,” this blog covers pretty much everything you could ever want to know about ethics, leadership and strong governance in healthcare. Administrations must deal with with changes in laws and policies that affect the way healthcare institutions operate. You need to stay on top of the latest developments in order to make decisions that benefit your staff. Doctors, nurses and other providers will look to you for guidance on how to handle the shifting healthcare landscape, and this blog can give you the knowledge to address potential problems in proactive ways.
Watcher’s World
The blog of Robert M. Watcher, M.D., discusses policies and practice issues that affect doctors and patients. Getting a physician’s perspective on the current goings-on in the healthcare world grants insight into how the medical professionals you oversee are affected by your administrative decisions. Watcher’s amiable tone and inclusion of personal experiences helps you understand the dynamics, thoughts and attitudes encountered in the healthcare system. With timely posts and a unique viewpoint, Watcher’s World is a blog that all healthcare professionals can benefit from reading.
Taking a little time each day to peruse these blogs will help you stay on top of what’s going on in the world of healthcare administration. It’s like having free professional development at your fingertips throughout all the phases of your career, and the knowledge you gain makes you better able to serve the institutions you work with.
See also: Can I Work for the CDC with a Master of Health Administration?
