After Bernie Zipprich graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s in economics, he worked for a consulting firm as a member of its health care strategy team. As his interest in health grew, Zipprich decided to go on for an MBA focused on the field, a growing b-school offering.
“I liked the intellectual complexity of the business challenges,” he says, “as well as the opportunity for social impact.”
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His degree, the MBA in Health Care Management offered at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, emphasizes topics like policy, financial management of health care organizations and regulation of medical devices.
After graduation, Zipprich went to work for Welltok Inc., a Massachusetts-based technology company in the relatively new field of health optimization. Welltok assists health plans, health systems and large employers in designing benefits programs that help individuals manage their health better, “saving money and time in the process,” says Zipprich.
For one large client, the team reorganized the company’s health benefits program to include “behavioral rewards and personalized nudges” to encourage workers to focus more on preventive care. Employees earn everything from reduced insurance premiums to gift cards or even cash for meeting diet, exercise and other health-related goals.
As part of the program, Welltok designed digital apps and other resources so employees could tailor their personal wellness plans and goals to fit their needs.
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As the company’s director of solutions strategy and value, Zipprich tracks market trends and customer needs, translating them into strategic insights to help internal teams devise new solutions — like a heart-healthy program for men in their 30s battling hypertension who can’t get to the gym — and determines value and pricing for clients.
Opportunities in health care management go beyond the traditional job description of managing a hospital or clinic, says June Kinney, associate director of the graduate program in Health Care Management at Wharton. “Graduates find jobs in digital health, insurance, finance, pharmabiotech, venture capital, medical devices and entrepreneurship,” she notes.
And don’t forget government agencies and nonprofit organizations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects job growth will be 17 percent from 2014 to 2024, which translates to some 56,300 more jobs.
The following fields are a few other career options prospective MBAs should keep an eye on.
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— Human resources manager: These pros are needed in a wide range of industries, from health care to information services to finance. Besides helping organizations with recruitment, hiring and training, many also evaluate benefits and compensation and manage labor relations.
Almost 11,000 jobs are expected to be added from 2014 to 2024, a growth of 9 percent, thanks to corporate expansion and changing labor laws. Median annual pay is more than $104,000, but top salaries can exceed $187,000.
— Statistician: Using mathematics to evaluate and translate data into insights, statisticians are being called upon to solve problems in diverse fields, including business, government, engineering, health care and sports.
The government projects that employment for statisticians will grow 34 percent in the decade ending in 2024, as the need for this expertise moves beyond the accounting department to areas like human resources, marketing and sales. Median salaries run just over $80,000.
— Management analyst: As companies redouble their efforts to cut costs and make their operations more efficient and profitable, the need for top-level analysts is increasing.
Job growth is expected to jump 14 percent by 2024 for management analysts, translating to roughly 103,000 new jobs. Median salary was about $81,000 in 2015.
This story is excerpted from the U.S. News “Best Graduate Schools 2018” guidebook, which features in-depth articles, rankings and data.
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Health Care Management on the Rise for MBA Students originally appeared on usnews.com
