Hospital CFO, How to be one.

[Kostavogi]

<p>Ok I'm new to CC, so I apologies if I make mistakes. Here's how it goes. I want to be a hospital CFO. I can't find much information online, so I came here. I'm unclear about what specific schooling is needed. What do I need to major in? Also I think that you need to do an MBA. I just found out what that was. I was wondering, do you get an MBA right after your BA at a four year college? Or is there a break? Do you need to work while getting an MBA. Are there and programs that combine the 4 year BA and the MBA to finish faster? Is an MBA hard. Do you need to write a book at the end? Also I might need to be a CPA too. But I know the steps for being one. Lastly, do you know any one who is a hospital CFO? </p>

<p>Thanks in advance!!!!</p>

[Kostavogi]

<p>BTW I’m not in college yet, but I’m planning early. </p>

[Newdle]

<p>First, why exactly do you want to be one?</p>

[Vctory]

<p>Whoa! Many, many, many questions. (Also, a mod might want to move this to the MBA section. No fault to you though, OP; this is a hard thread to judge for a section. Edit: this was when the thread was in the basic College Admissions section. Thanks entomom!) </p>

<p>I’ll answer just a quick one regarding a job as a Hospital CFO with an excerpt from a job ad:</p>

<p>For Finance Director:</p>

<p>

Qualifications will include experience, understanding and expertise in financial management of physician practice, ambulatory care and acute hospital operational environments. Strong communication and presentation skills are essential for this position as well as the ability to develop positive relationships with colleagues in management and physicians. </p>

<p>“I am seeking candidates to join our team in a Finance Director role. Our finance team is responsible for providing leadership and support to our multi-specialty physician group, multiple acute-care hospitals and a variety of health-related business units. Interested candidates should be seeking a role that requires creativity, innovation, ability to influence and a passion for their work. Finance team members’ goal is to participate in changing the way healthcare is delivered to our patients to create increasing and long-term value by improving the health of the population we serve. Our team seeks to continually evaluate and redefine how our roles and responsibilities can best support the direction and needs of the organization and our patients, and to enhance coordination and integration of care around the patient.”- *** ***<strong><em>, </em></strong> ******, CFO</p>

<p>A Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance or business is required, along with 5 or more years of experience in healthcare and with progressively increasing responsibilities.

</p>

<p>Note that this is for a Finance Director role, not the CFO. CFO -> VP of finance/finance director/etc. -> Controller</p>

<p>For CFO:</p>

<p>

Qualifications</p>

<p>Bachelor’s degree in accounting or business administration from an accredited college or university is required.
A minimum of five years’ experience in business and accounting practices. CPA preferred.
Prior experience in use of lean principles and methodologies preferred.
Broad knowledge of accounting theory and applications, economic principles, cost accounting and statistics, healthcare delivery systems; leadership and interpersonal skills; oral and written communication skills, negotiation skills and an awareness of ethics.
Demonstrates effective communications skills, visual and audio abilities, extended work hours to accommodate scheduled meetings.

</p>

<p>Self explanatory. However, you might consider these qualifications as the minimum requirements. An MBA couldn’t hurt a resume. </p>

<p>Another CFO:</p>

<p>

SECTION 3: EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS</p>

<p>A Bachelors degree in Finance, Business or Hospital Administration from an accredited university is required.
Masters degree in Finance, Business or Hospital Administration from an accredited university is preferred.
SECTION 4: EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS</p>

<p>At least 5 - 10 years of progressive financial management experience required, with at least two years in a leadership capacity.
At least 5 years of Hospital Finance experience preferred.
Proven ability to provide leadership to a diverse group of people.
Demonstrated ability to handle multiple simultaneous tasks and to function well under pressure.
Working knowledge and experience developing budgets and using cost control techniques.
Experience managing and evaluating technical and management personnel in a sophisticated systems environment.
Demonstrated written and oral communication skills.
SECTION 5: CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, SKILLS AND ABILITIES REQUIRED</p>

<p>CPA certification preferred

</p>

<p>Again, self-explanatory, with emphasis on the fact that grad school is recommended.</p>

<p>Another CFO:</p>

<p>

Job Qualifications </p>

<p>Qualifications include a Bachelor’s/Masters Degree in Accounting or related field. Knowledge of Financial and Accounting practices in a healthcare setting preferred. </p>

<p>The position reports directly to the CEO. Salary is commensurate with experience and qualifications. Excellent Benefits.

</p>

<p>More experience + better qualifications (i.e. grad school) = more pay and more options. </p>

<p>Overall, you’ll probably want to go for an MBA and become a CPA. Check the MBA section of this website for some advice there! </p>

<p>Just to answer quickly: </p>

<p>MBA right after undergrad? Depends on the person, many people get their MBA’s right after undergrad; some people choose to take a gap and get experience. GMAT scores, GPA, and experience are three very important factors in an application. </p>

<p>Work while getting MBA? Depends on the person. My girlfriend’s dad did; some of my friends did, some didn’t; some of my dad’s friends did, some didn’t. </p>

<p>Are there programs that combine undergrad and MBA? Yes, yes there are. Many exist.</p>

<p>Is getting an MBA hard? Ish. Depends on the tier of B-school. MBA from Wharton (University of Pennsylvania’s b-school, best in country/world)? Probably harder than an MBA from Random State b-school. </p>

<p>Do you need to write a book at the end?
I believe this depends on the program. Some require a thesis, some don’t. </p>

<p>Do I know any hospital CFO’s?
Nope, sorry. If you’re interested, however, look at your local hospital’s/some hospital near you’s website/employee directory. You might be able to find the CFO there. Shoot them a polite email detailing your aspirations; ask them for some advice in pursuing that career. Run the email through someone to revise it first (maybe a parent or teacher), just to ensure a proper format/writing style. </p>

<p>Now, some questions for you:</p>

<p>What grade are you in? (So we can better help you prepare)
As the above poster asked, why do you want to be a hospital CFO? </p>

<p>Best of luck. Sorry for the wordiness of my post. </p>

[Kostavogi]

<p>Thanks for everything! I’m in 10th grade. Why do I want to be a hospital CFO? I am a great math person. For years I have wanted to be a CPA, but I feel like I could do better than that, and get a higher level job. I don’t really mind the unusual schedule, but since I really like math it’ll be enjoyable!</p>

[Kostavogi]

<p>Math*</p>

[Catria]

<p>Why in the healthcare industry in particular? There are several industries where a CFO can work, and many of them will have equally unsual schedules vs. a hospital CFO.</p>

[Kostavogi]

<p>I believe that the healthcare industry will rise, and CFOs in hospitals will be more in demand. Also they have a higher level position. Originally I wanted to work as a houtal director, but I decided to stick with CFO, I LOVE MATH. </p>

[juillet]

<p>-You can major in anything you want. If you want to do hospital finance or accounting, it might be wise to major in accounting or finance and work in that for a few years before returning for the MBA. Many accountants and finance folks move onto the management/administration side after working in the field for a while.</p>

<p>-While the minimum requirements to be a CFO might be 5 years experience in some ads, I think it’s more common for CFO types to have at least 7-10 years at small clinics/community hospitals and 10-15+ years at large hospital systems or prestigious hospitals. CFOs at large hospital systems may also have had experience being a CFO or VP of finance at a smaller or comparable hospital/system before their current role.</p>

<p>-Although theoretically a hospital CFO could just have a bachelor’s degree, I believe it is most common for them to have some kind of graduate degree - usually an MBA.</p>

<p>-Yes, some people do get MBAs right after undergrad. However, at the top MBA programs the vast, vast majority of students have some post-college work experience (2-7 years, usually around 3-5) before continuing to the MBA. It’s more useful - both for your coursework in business school and your employability afterwards - for you to have some experience post-college before pursuing the MBA.</p>

<p>-Some employers will pay for you to do an executive or part-time MBA while you work. It completely depends on the employer and the field. You’ll learn more once you begin working.</p>

<p>-No, you don’t have to write a book at the end of an MBA, lol. That’s the PhD dissertation you are thinking of. Some master’s programs do require theses, but most MBAs do not.</p>

<p>-I have never been to business school, so I do not know first-hand if it is difficult. However, I do have a few friends with MBAs (I go to Columbia, so it’s a top b-school) and they said that it’s not hard. One of them characterized it as basically two years of networking with a bunch of very business-oriented folks. Of course, your experience may vary depending on where you go and what your pre-MBA preparation is like.</p>

<p>***Also, if you love math (which is AWESOME) there are lots of other ways for you to combine math with health care and/or an employable field. If you love math, business, AND health you could also become an actuary working at a healthcare insurance company. Check out BeAnActuary.com. If you don’t really care so much about the business, but love the math and health care, you could become a biostatistician for a university/academic medical center or any research hospital. Biostatisticians analyze health data for researchers and medical personnel. If you love math and you think you’d like to track diseases and how they spread, you could become an epidemiologist and work for a city, state, or federal health agency or for a hospital doing infection control. (Infection control epidemiologists in hospitals tend to be nurses.) If you like computers, math, and health, you can become a bioinformaticist - a person who uses computer science and technology to analyze health-related data, like genetics and virology.</p>

<p>If you love math and business and just want to be perpetually employable, you could pair your love of math with the study of economics and become an economist, analyzing economic change over time. There’s even a specific job title called “mathematician.” If you Google that, the second result that comes up is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ profile. Mathematicians average $101,000 a year and their job growth is much faster than the average.</p>

[Newdle]

<p>If you really want to pursue the medical field (and want to have something to potentially fall back on) you might be interested in an MD-MBA degree. I don’t know about many… Possibly because I’m a sophomore in high school like you… But common knowledge would suggest University of Pennsylvania’s is top-notch. Anyway, good luck!</p>