The U.S. health care system is constantly in flux. Technological innovations such as telehealth, a push toward greater health care efficiency and enhanced personalized care opportunities are just some of the factors that are moving the business of health care in new and exciting directions. However, these advances can only be fully realized through effective health care leadership.
Fortunately, health care leaders with MHA or MBA degrees are steering health care in new directions that respond to these big changes. For individuals deciding whether to pursue an MHA vs. MBA degree, it is important to understand the differences in their approaches and how the respective degrees prepare individuals for leadership in health care roles.
What Is an MHA vs. an MBA?
Master of Health Administration (MHA) and Executive MHA degree programs provide specialized education focused on business and health care-related issues. A Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, on the other hand, is a broader degree with applications in a range of industries.
MHA vs. MBA: Similarities
Either degree can further a career in health services management by providing a foundation in principal business administration concepts, including finance, risk management and leadership. Both MHA and MBA graduates can shape the health care system in response to the demands of stakeholders, such as medical professionals, insurance companies and patients.
Health services managers strategically oversee the business of health care. Individuals with MHA or MBA degrees can work in hospitals, insurance management, government agencies and consulting firms, among other settings.
MHA vs. MBA: Differences
What distinguishes an MHA from an MBA? A major difference is that an MHA equips graduates with knowledge and expertise specifically related to health care, as opposed to business in general.
Key Distinctions: MHA
Unlike an MBA, an MHA degree trains students in areas specific to the health care field, including:
- Managing population health
- Improving quality in health care delivery
- Tracking non-business data, such as electronic health records
- Monitoring health care regulatory requirements
- Applying health policy to administration and management
Another primary difference between an MHA and an MBA is the scope of expertise it covers. While MBA programs primarily focus on skills for generating business revenue, MHA programs prepare students to optimize both revenue and health outcomes for the organizations they work for. Both degrees cover business expertise, but only the MHA focuses on equipping graduates to apply that business expertise in a health care setting.
An MHA degree is geared toward health care professionals aiming to sharpen their business skills and gain in-depth knowledge of theory and practice in contemporary health care management. Pursuing an MHA offers a firm foundation for health care professionals who are interested in moving into high-growth sectors of the industry, transitioning to management-level positions or taking on critical leadership roles in their organizations.
In addition, highly educated health care professionals such as pharmacists, nurses or doctors earn MHA degrees with the aim of honing their management capabilities or preparing to take on non-clinical roles in health care organizations.
An Executive MHA degree can be a good fit for more senior leaders and executives who are looking to develop their health care leadership skills even further. Students in the online Executive MHA program at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, for example, explore curricular themes such as delivering cost-effective care in the era of value-based purchasing or developing and implementing strategies to enhance patient safety and quality of care.
Key Distinctions: MBA
While an MHA program focuses on business management as it relates to health care, an MBA is a business management degree that applies to a wide variety of fields. Demand is high for MBA graduates with backgrounds in marketing, operations, finance and accounting.
For those looking to jump into the fray of a dynamic and competitive arena that can change lives for the better, the health care industry provides a career path with considerable opportunities. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), job openings in health care occupations between 2022 and 2032 are projected to grow much faster than the average projected growth for the U.S. job market as a whole.
When considering an MHA vs. an MBA, prospective students should understand that both degrees are rewarding. Regardless of whether they hold an MHA or an MBA, graduates can find opportunities to improve health care delivery — and the well-being of all patients.
MHA and MBA graduates who work in health care will take different approaches to hot-button issues such as telehealth, value-based care and equitable access to care. Comparing the approaches of MHA and MBA degree holders to current health care issues reveals some key distinctions.
Telehealth Trends and Challenges: MHA vs. MBA
The field of telehealth has experienced dramatic growth in recent years. While telehealth usage has to an extent waned since its COVID peak, many believe it will increase in the next few years as lawmakers move to make permanent the temporary legislation that widened telehealth during the pandemic. As older systems and technologies scramble to keep pace with today’s demands for quality care amid constantly changing rules and guidelines, MHA and MBA graduates can help.
The challenges of using and expanding telehealth are numerous. Concerns about telehealth for today’s health leaders, according to the health care product website Demigos, include:
- Reimbursements
- Accuracy of diagnosis
- Data security
- HIPAA compliance
- Resistance to tech adoption
In spite of these challenges, MHA and MBA degree programs prepare health care leaders to tackle telehealth, each through a slightly different lens. An MHA degree holder may focus on practice and finance, while an MBA degree holder may focus strictly on financial issues.
An MHA and the Future of Telehealth
Because an MHA degree’s curriculum delves into complex aspects of contemporary health care, an MHA degree holder may be uniquely equipped to deal with issues such as telehealth usage. Furthermore, MHA degree holders typically have had boots on the ground in health care fields, providing direct and relevant experience. Working directly with patients has allowed them to grasp telehealth’s patient-related advantages, including:
- Offering a solution for risk-averse patients
- Providing accessibility for patients with limited mobility
- Maintaining continuity of care
Health managers with an MHA know the downside of telehealth, too. Disadvantages include:
- Increased potential for unnecessary care
- Patient difficulties in accessing or using technology
- Issues with keeping health data private during a virtual visit
Qualities that enable MHA graduates to help lead the telehealth revolution include:
- Empathy for patients who are struggling to cope with new technology and new ways of interacting with providers
- On-the-job familiarity with appointments, recordkeeping, treatment plans and follow-up care
An MBA and the Future of Telehealth
Management professionals with MBA degrees also bring unique skills and experience to bear on the challenges and rewards of the telehealth landscape.
MBA graduates understand profit and loss in any industry. Thus, a health care systems manager with an MBA degree may be well-equipped to see the financial side of telehealth. In addition to being less costly to patients, telehealth presents opportunities for providers to increase profits — for instance, by attracting new patients who see the value of free or low-cost online consultations.
MBA graduates also understand the financial pitfalls of new and emerging technology. Telehealth can present financial challenges to health care providers.
- Patients pay less for virtual visits.
- Providers often receive lower reimbursement from insurance companies than expected.
- Providers who don’t offer a user-friendly telehealth experience can lose patients to tech-savvy competitors.
Value-Based Care: MHA vs. MBA
Value-based-care, a key health care trend, revolves around rewarding providers for better patient outcomes and experiences, such as:
- Measurable improvements in a condition such as high blood sugar or depression
- Preventive care that keeps patients proactive about staying healthy and out of emergency rooms
Widely believed to boost patient health and well-being, value-based care is replacing the older fee-for-service model that rewarded providers on a visit-by-visit basis. MHA and MBA graduates approach the value-based care model in different ways but with the same goal: achieving better patient outcomes.
An MHA and Value-Based Care
An MHA graduate may be uniquely positioned to make a difference in value-based care, because MHA degree programs often include core courses in the key area of quality of care with a focus on its measurement and improvement.
An MHA degree program is all about addressing current health care issues, such as the shift from pay-per-visit to pay-for-performance. That means an MHA program graduate may bring new knowledge and expertise to championing value-based care in a competitive industry.
An MBA and Value-Based Care
Accompanying value-based care’s mandate to improve patient outcomes is the task of monitoring and analyzing those outcomes with an eye toward continued progress. The expertise of MBA graduates in applying metrics to particular industries makes them key players in health care’s rapid evolution.
In reality, patients bring providers money regardless of the payment model. However, care is more than seeing patients as numbers.
The consumer-focused mindset of today’s health care industry resembles that of the banking and retail sectors. Patient-centered payment models such as value-based care have ignited the demand for the skills MBA holders can offer, including:
- An understanding of cost controls
- An ability to oversee complex systems
- An outcome-based perspective
Equitable Access to Care: MHA vs. MBA
Equitable access to care saves lives — and it’s a basic human right. Legislation like the Affordable Care Act has helped increase access to health care. In addition, other government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid provide financial assistance to many individuals, including:
- Lower-income people
- People with disabilities
- Older adults
The U.S. continues to grapple with ingrained inequities in quality of care. Its health care system, for a variety of systemic reasons, frequently prevents people of color, people who speak languages other than English and other underrepresented groups from receiving care that’s equal to that experienced by more privileged groups.
Inequity, whether pertaining to quality of care or access to care, is a huge problem confronting health care today. Health systems managers with MHA or MBA degrees stand ready to address it.
An MHA and Equitable Access to Care
MHA programs encourage students to ask hard questions that have no easy answers, including the following.
- How can the health care industry better address racial disparities in quality of care?
- How do we control health care costs so that affordable care is accessible to all?
- How do we ensure that every U.S. resident, regardless of determinants such as region or socioeconomic background, has equal access to quality health care?
Graduates of MHA programs that prepare students to answer tough questions such as these may be well-positioned to succeed as industry leaders in addressing equitable health care.
An MBA and Equitable Access to Care
If an MBA degree were concerned with only dollars and cents, then MBA degree holders who work in health care management would have little incentive to champion equitable access to care. But it isn’t all about profits. Accessible, equitable health care requires:
- Focused and culturally competent marketing efforts
- Rebranding that reaches new patient audiences
- Strategies that target consumers of health services
For example, grassroots methods to address geographical challenges to health care access can include working with transportation companies to set up mobile clinics or arrange rides for patients. Similarly, starting a pop-up clinic in a shopping mall involves coordination with retailers. In a larger sense, the nation’s health systems are businesses like any other, affecting employees, communities and the daily lives of the people they touch.
Some ways in which health systems can make equity a strategic priority, according to Deloitte, include:
- Making health equity a leader-driven effort, with clear goals and accountability
- Applying a health equity lens to all parts of the business
- Ensuring initiatives are funded and supported
While the MHA vs. MBA comparison shows that the two degrees prepare health care managers in different ways, the end goal is the same: equipping emerging health care leaders to guide and lead the future of health care and to drive the field’s purpose to benefit everyone.
Why Choose an MHA?
Earning an MHA degree can position you to pursue advanced health care roles, which often pay well. For instance, the BLS reports a 2022 median salary of $104,830 for medical and health services managers — a potential career outcome for MHA degree-holders.
However, competitive pay is far from the primary goal of earning an MHA. The degree can empower you to make a difference in a field that can save lives. As technology, policy and medical breakthroughs continue to evolve, health care leaders can help others make sense of changes to ensure the best possible care can be delivered consistently.
An MHA is also a versatile degree that can lay the groundwork for health insurance careers, careers in nursing home administration or a future creating health care policy.
Shape the Future of Health Care
You care enough to devote your career to improving the business of health care as it changes to meet the demands of the future. Interested in broadening your professional reach, gaining the tools to elevate patient care and increasing your potential as a health care leader? Explore the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy’s online Executive Master of Health Administration.
The EMHA degree program emphasizes areas such as health care regulation and operations, economics and finance, strategic analysis, management, information management and quality assessment.
Discover how earning an Executive Master of Health Administration degree from USC Price can help you transform the future of health care.
Recommended Readings
How to Improve Access to Health Care: Issues & Potential Solutions
7 Reasons to Pursue an EMHA Degree
6 In-Demand Health Administration Careers
Sources:
American Medical Association, “What to Expect in Telehealth in 2023? Here Are 5 Predictions”
Deloitte, “Mobilizing Toward Health Equity: Action Steps for Health Care Organizations”
Demigos, “Top 6 Telemedicine Adoption Challenges and Opportunities”
Forbes, “5 Leading Healthcare Trends For 2023”
Healthcare IT News, “Here Are the Major Issues Facing Healthcare in 2021, According to PwC”
Mayo Clinic, “Telehealth: Technology Meets Health Care”
Medpage Today, “Doctors Struggle to Get Paid for Telehealth Visits”
Monster, “Where Can You Work with a Master’s in Healthcare Administration?”
ProactiveMD, “5 Ways to Improve the Quality of Healthcare”
Stakeholder Health, “10 Ways Hospitals Can Improve Healthcare Access”
Telehealth.HHS.gov, “Telehealth Policy Changes After the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency”
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Healthcare Occupations”
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Medical and Health Services Managers”
