Health Management is a field of science with a history and depth of 105 years globally and 54 years in Türkiye, featuring around 500 undergraduate and graduate training programs. The field in Türkiye, parallel to global scientific advancements, is a specialized and unique foundational area where scientific knowledge accumulation is ensured, academics are trained, and regular journals and books are published.
The opening of educational programs stemmed from the professional management needs of the healthcare system and healthcare institutions, and the quantity and quality of original research conducted in the area necessitated its recognition as an independent scientific discipline.
Especially in the USA, the need arose to address the high healthcare expenditures and resource allocation problems, and to ensure the efficient use of resources by treating the clinical and administrative aspects of the health sector independently.
To meet the demand for trained human resources, educated in health and business administration, for management levels in hospitals—where a significant portion of healthcare services are delivered—departments were established in universities under the names "Health Administration," "Health Institutions Management," and "Health Policy and Management."
The first educational program in Health Management began with the Hospital Administration Graduate Program at the University of Chicago School of Management in 1934 and subsequently spread to countries such as the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Finland, Germany, USA, and Canada.
In Türkiye, the School of Health Administration was first established in 1963 under the Ministry of Health, parallel to the global development and change process of health management. Later, the School of Hospital Administration was established by the Hacettepe University Senate Decision dated 5.6.1970 and numbered 800, providing graduate education until 1975. With the Senate Decision dated 6.11.1975 and numbered 75-816, an Undergraduate program was also opened, and the school's name was changed to the "School of Health Administration." The school under the Ministry of Health and the school affiliated with Hacettepe University were merged into a single school within Hacettepe University by the Statutory Decree dated July 20, 1982, and numbered 41, based on the Higher Education Law numbered 2547.
Following this process, education continued with the establishment of departments named Health Management and Health Institutions Management at Ankara, Marmara, and Başkent Universities. After 2006, Health Management departments were opened in many more universities across Türkiye, and today, education continues with over fifty departments.
Health management is the planning, organizing, activating, and controlling of material and human resources to preserve and improve the health level of society through the provision of healthcare services. It is a process that involves interrelated social and technical functions and activities, emerging within a specific formal organizational structure, to achieve predetermined goals through human and other resources.
It is a profession where administrative tasks, decision-making, and implementation processes are carried out in healthcare institutions and all organizations related to healthcare services; where analyses, planning, and evaluations are conducted; where knowledge is generated, interpreted, and utilized at national and international levels; and where administrative processes for the planning, provision, and evaluation of healthcare services are executed. The field of Health Management is the entirety of technical and social activities related to the organization, direction, and control of healthcare services. Health management is not simply the basic adaptation of general business principles and theories to healthcare services or institutions; it should be regarded as the redefinition and creative application of general business principles and institutions.
The Health Management Profession encompasses highly qualified professional health managers who have developed their identity and personality at all levels of the health sector, are self-confident, know their country and the world well, adopt contemporary and universal values, research and question, possess the knowledge, skills, and ideal to manage health organizations, are proficient in a foreign language, have a production-oriented entrepreneurial spirit, have developed communication and leadership skills, and are equipped with the necessary principles, concepts, knowledge, and skills for their profession.
It is the profession where administrative tasks are executed, decision-making and implementation processes are carried out; analyses, planning, and evaluations are conducted; where knowledge is generated, interpreted, and utilized at national and international levels; and where administrative processes for the planning, provision, and evaluation of healthcare services are performed in healthcare institutions and all organizations involved in healthcare-related work.
Takes charge in conducting the administrative, financial, and technical services of the institution, in determining its mission, vision, core goals, and values, and in quality, standardization, and accreditation studies, as well as performance evaluation.
Takes charge in determining, implementing, and managing the institution's financial management policies.
Conducts the institution's accounting, budget, financial analysis, and cost analysis activities.
Takes charge in the process of planning, executing, and evaluating the results of healthcare service delivery.
Ensures the organization, execution, and supervision of services provided within the institution other than medical and patient care.
Takes charge in the preparation and execution of the institution's crisis and disaster plan.
Takes charge in the recording of diagnoses and surgeries according to the international disease code system, as well as the keeping, storage, evaluation, and reporting of medical and administrative statistics.
Takes charge in operating the institution's general and medical archive services and hospital information systems.
Develops policies and conducts planning, or participates in these studies, related to the field of health management.
The Health Management Profession encompasses highly qualified professional health managers who have developed their identity and personality at all levels of the health sector, are self-confident, know their country and the world well, adopt contemporary and universal values, research and question, possess the knowledge, skills, and ideal to manage health organizations, are proficient in a foreign language, have a production-oriented entrepreneurial spirit, have developed communication and leadership skills, and are equipped with the necessary principles, concepts, knowledge, and skills for their profession.
Health Managers have the potential to be employed in a wide range of service areas, primarily hospitals, as well as various public and private sector health institutions and organizations, responsible for administrative, financial, and technical tasks, in addition to general health management.
Work Locations:
Central and Provincial Organizations of the Ministry of Health
Public Hospitals
Private Sector Hospitals and Health Institutions
University Hospitals
Social Security and Insurance Organizations
Administrative positions in health and social sector organizations.
