13 jobs in health services administration (With salaries)

Updated 25 September 2023

Healthcare is a fast-moving and complex industry that relies on excellent administration, organisation and management. There are many administrative roles available in healthcare that can be fulfilling and help positively impact care. If you're considering working in healthcare, it can be useful to know the various administrative positions available, so you can choose one that suits you best. In this article, we provide 13 examples of different jobs in health services administration, with their primary duties and salary information to help you learn more about this field.

13 jobs in health services administration

Positions in health services administration range from performing routine duties to managing the digital transformation of health services or entire practices. The following are examples of administrative roles in the health services field:

1. Medical receptionist

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National average salary: £18,677 per year

Primary duties: Medical receptionists greet and assist patients on-site at medical practices. They coordinate with other staff to organise patient care during the day while attending to administrative duties. Most of their administrative responsibilities relate to booking and managing appointments using booking systems and processing patient information. This is a public-facing customer-service administrative role in healthcare that focuses on handling the relationship between the practice and the patients and dealing with challenges calmly as they arise.

2. Clerical officer

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National average salary: £19,975 per year

Primary duties: Clerical officers specialise in the proper management of records. They conduct checks and ensure the safe storage of records both physically and digitally. They prepare records for scanning by removing obstructions and determining whether they're of an appropriate size and quality. They routinely audit and dispose of health-records material in confidential disposal bins and move records between processing locations in accordance with policy. They use log sheets to track ownership of documents during their processing and run reports of clinics.

3. Administrative assistant

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National average salary: £20,154 per year

Primary duties: Administrative assistants provide broad organisational support by performing a range of tasks, including reporting, coding and managing databases and communications. In a healthcare context, administrative assistants do the administrative duties that the practice requires to support others, such as doctors and nurses. These responsibilities relate primarily to patient records but can also include liaising with auditors and government bodies or managing practice finances.

4. Medical secretary

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National average salary: £22,752 per year

Primary duties: Medical secretaries provide general administrative support to other healthcare team members to meet the needs of the practice. This involves answering phones, taking messages, dealing with enquiries, scanning and sending documents and disseminating information throughout internal networks. They work closely with other administrative staff to take on other duties while ensuring good communication with visitors, other employees and patients. They respond to routine and specialist queries and liaise with medical specialists to answer their questions, assess situations and provide further support. Their work focuses on documentation, schedules, appointments, meetings and inventory but also includes other administrative tasks.

5. Healthcare assistant

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National average salary: £22,672 per year

Primary duties: Healthcare assistants work with practice nurses to ensure the effective delivery of primary care in accordance with guidelines and protocols. They contribute to the practice's strategic direction and work with auditors to ensure compliance with regulations. They communicate routine information to patients, carers and relatives while respecting confidentiality and providing basic healthcare advice to support them. Their main role is to enable communication between patients, families and practices to express their needs and take action to meet these needs in care delivery.

6. Healthcare recruiter

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National average salary: £24,145 per year

Primary duties: Healthcare recruiters manage the process of recruiting new administrative and clinical employees for a healthcare provider. They seek to fill vacant positions or create new positions to meet business needs while coordinating with practice managers and partners on what candidates suit the role. They conduct interviews, work with other employees to manage the recruitment process and arrange for the training of new recruits. They handle communications with candidates, which can involve answering emails and phone calls, scheduling interviews, liaising with the human resources (HR) department and managing any challenges that arise during the process.

7. Care coordinator

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National average salary: £24,461 per year

Primary duties: Care coordinators work with the practice teams and other staff of general practitioners to identify the needs of patients and arrange for personalised care and support for their conditions. They may work with the elderly, infirm, disabled or other people who have long-term health needs. They coordinate personalised care for patients that address their unique situations and abide by government guidelines for best practices in healthcare. They manage communication with care homes, wards and other external bodies to ensure the continuity of patient care between locations. This may involve visiting patients in care settings to discuss their requirements.

8. Coding specialist

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National average salary: £24,709 per year

Primary duties: Coding specialists are data-entry administrators who manage the clinical workflow of a practice in both physical and digital media. This includes handling discharge summaries, patient records, clinic letters and other kinds of documentation that use medical code to communicate conditions, treatments and other information. They follow strict protocols that ensure the safety and efficiency of the process and follow standardisation guidelines that ensure the code is legible for anyone consulting it. They may also further manage other administrative tasks, such as communicating, filing, database managing, summarising, reporting, training and recruiting.

9. Informatics analyst

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National average salary: £34,338 per year

Primary duties: Informatics analysts work with operational services to develop, maintain and enhance digital systems to meet healthcare needs. These digital systems can include records management, reports, databases, communications and any other systems that help practices deliver healthcare. They work with other staff to identify requirements for information services and work to meet those requirements by creating new solutions or gathering data. Informatics analysts support researchers and auditors by collecting high-quality data to support them and automating reports to speed up processes. They may also conduct quality control and assess data collection to ensure that methods are reliable and secure.

10. Communications specialist

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National average salary: £35,038 per year

Primary duties: Communications specialists work with operations employees to meet their needs and support them with timely and appropriate communications. This role can entail both communications within healthcare services and public communications to support service delivery. They can take on media-relations activities, such as writing press releases and coordinating visits, while working with stakeholders and others to maintain good public relationships and a positive reputation. They may write communications strategies and work with public health to establish guidelines on how to communicate clinical excellence and promote services well.

11. Human resource (HR) compliance officer

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National average salary: £35,214 per year

Primary duties: HR compliance officers ensure that medical providers behave appropriately and that employees have a reliable source of guidance if any challenges arise. They ensure that employees comply with HR regulations and perform background security checks, right-to-work documents and other paperwork for new employees and candidates during the recruitment process. They handle all aspects of pre-employment screening and continue to support those employees throughout their time with the company. If any serious HR challenges do arise, HR compliance officers are responsible for taking appropriate steps to address them and prevent further issues.

12. Practice manager

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National average salary: £35,862 per year

Primary duties: Practice managers take the lead in managing the regular operation of a healthcare setting, such as a general practice. They manage external contracts and finances for the practice to ensure its profitability, keep accurate records and optimise the practice's use of its main income streams. They act as quality assurance for the practice to check that it's performing within guidelines by producing risk assessments and handling audits. They also complete HR duties, such as managing, recruiting, training and appraising employees.

13. Digital transformation consultant

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National average salary: £48,109 per year

Primary duties: Digital transformation consultants are high-level information technology experts who develop systems to help people access digital healthcare services online. Their approach focuses on building suitable methods, promoting integration and driving efficiency in digital services. This also supports decision-making and prioritises good employee and customer experiences of systems. They ensure that digital transformation enhances patient experiences, keeps both patients and employees safe and meets the health and administrative needs of everyone. Their primary duties can include procuring and managing digital tools, developing infrastructure, communicating with management and proposing and supporting new initiatives.

Salary figures reflect data listed on Indeed Salaries at time of writing. Salaries‌ ‌may‌ ‌‌vary‌‌ ‌depending‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌hiring‌ ‌organisation‌ ‌and‌ ‌a‌ ‌candidate's‌ ‌experience,‌ ‌academic‌ background‌ ‌and‌ ‌location.‌

13 jobs in health services administration (With salaries)