Professional Overview: Health Care Risk Manager
If you are interested in learning more about health care risk management as a career, this page defines who risk managers are, what they do, how to become a risk manager, where the jobs are, and why you should choose this career.
Health care risk management is a diverse profession in a dynamic and evolving health care industry. Health care risk managers hold a wide variety of titles and work in a cross-section of organizations. It’s no wonder that when people ask, “what is a health care risk manager” that we frequently hear diverse responses. The truth is that we do operate in wide range of settings and organizations. But, we have many common professional attributes. And, it’s because there are so many different types of opportunities for health care risk management professionals, that our profession is so interesting and rewarding.
The American Society for health care Risk Management (ASHRM) is the professional association for health care risk managers. We are nearly 6,000 members strong. We’d like to help answer your questions.
So, who are health care risk managers?
Health care risk managers come from a variety of professional and educational backgrounds. We have an interest in the broad-based discipline of health care risk management because we enjoy working to positively influence the health care industry, and contribute to the delivery of safe and trusted health care. We are men and women across the country in every state, and we serve large and small communities and organizations.
What do health care risk managers do?
It’s a very dynamic profession and we believe that this is the fun part of being a health care risk manager. By nature, we are flexible professionals and we are an integral part of delivering safe and trusted health care. Specifically, some examples of what we do include risk financing; event and incident management; clinical, financial, legal and general business aspects; the psychological and human factors of health care; statistical analysis; insurance; and claims management. However, our job descriptions are unique to the organizations in which we are employed.
How can I become a health care risk manager?
There is not a direct, singular route to becoming a health care risk manager. However, you must have a basic understanding of risk management within the health care world through practical experience and/or education. Common educational backgrounds include business, insurance, clinical/nursing, medical and law. However, there are other backgrounds that health care risk managers come from as well. These include areas such as pharmaceuticals, biometrics, health law and others.
It’s not a one-size-fits-all profession. One can be trained to be a health care risk manager through education, practical experience or both.
Where are the jobs?
Healthcare risk managers find employment in a wide variety of organizations such as hospitals, insurance carriers and brokers, health care organizations, consulting firms, long term care, ambulatory care, hospice, office surgeries, physician practices, pharmaceuticals, governmental agencies, independent urgent care centers, and other organizations that support the health care continuum.
Why might I choose health care risk management as a career?
You might consider the health care risk management field if you enjoy challenging work, a diverse set of responsibilities, continual learning, are open to ongoing change, and can demonstrate an interest in and understanding of health care risk management job attributes.