SUDISH NIROULA
Amidst a downhill economy, when many industries have fell short of the capital, expenditure and market, healthcare industry has continued to expand. The demand in the field has led to healthcare becoming one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, offering myriad of opportunities to the healthcare professionals. Hospitals and clinics are no more just medical institutions; they have transformed themselves into the complex social and business enterprises. Among lots of careers provided by the healthcare industry, healthcare management as a career has been developed recently in Nepal and is gradually growing. The health care management, similar to the other functional management like hotel management and organizational management, is directed by administrators who are trained for their responsibilities. They are formally appointed to Position of Authority in health care organizations or systems to direct or support work effectively. They carry responsibilities for resource utilization and are accountable for work results. Professionals who work in this field may be called health services executives, healthcare administrators or health service managers. The main job of the healthcare managers is to ensure that their organizations have strong medical, operational, and financial ability to serve the needs of patients, their families, and the communities.  

Health Care Management as a degree 
Health Care Management course is designed to strengthen the management and business skills needed by the professionals to function effectively within the health care industry. The curriculum includes study of health care strategic and financial management, health care policy analysis, and legal and ethical considerations within the industry. People who choose this specialization can pursue mid-level management or executive positions in the health care industry or in organizations serving the health care industry. They partner with physicians, nurses, and other professionals to provide healthcare. Healthcare management graduates can work as administrators, managers, CEO's, and policy makers in any health related organization. Apart from these, the health care students can get the position in policy making level for developing the health plan/ policy/ guidelines, managing health programs/ health projects, evaluating health care programs and so on. The academic courses on the subject help students develop the skills they need to coordinate resources while working within the constraints of legal, regulatory, and ethical guidelines. It combines the management and specialized training in healthcare management. With the degree  in Health Care management, students can demonstrate their expertise in directing health care organizations, leading health professionals, and delivering invaluable services to people in need.

Various areas where the Health Care Management graduates get job:
• Clinics 
• Consulting firms 
• Health insurance organizations 
• Healthcare associations 
• Hospitals 
• Nursing homes 
• Mental health organizations 
• Public health departments 
• Rehabilitation centers 
• Skilled nursing facilities 
• Universities and research institutions 
• Developing the health plan/ policy/ guidelines
• Managing health programs/ health projects
• Health care evaluation
• Integrating the national health Programs with the global Programs

Health care management in Nepal
Healthcare management is a new course that has been recently introduced in Nepal. Many students are unaware of this course and it has not been able to establish itself as a very prospective course for students.75 years after the introduction of Bachelors of Healthcare Management (BHCM) in USA, it was started by Pokhara University at National Open College (NOC) for the first time in the country.The course was introduced as a three years program and later converted to four years. The college also runs Masters Degree in health care management (MHCM) and Post graduate diploma in health care management (PGDHCM) program.  Noble college at New Baneshwor accompanies NOC and runs BHCM program under Pokhara University. These two are the only colleges to offer bachelor’s level course on Health Care Management, while PGDHCM and MHCM are run by NOC alone.  

According to pioneers of this field, international standard course is offered at a very low cost inside the country. The Nepalese hospitals and Medical institutions offer trainings for BHCM students free of cost. That, too, is one of the reasons for reduced cost of the degree. Bachelor’s degree in health care management (BHCM) can be opted by 10+2 passed students from any stream – science, management or humanities.  The cost for the degree is around sixty thousand rupees per year in NOC while Noble Academy charges around sixty-nine thousand for the same. PGDHCM is a one year course for bachelor graduates from any stream who want to join master’s level in the subject. It costs around one hundred thousand for completing PGDHCM. Similarly, MHCM is a two years course available for the BHCM, BAMS, PGDHCM and MBBS students.

The demand for health care managers and administrators is rising due to increasing number of hospitals, nursing homes, Medical firms, INGOS & NGOS inside the country. Most of the Nepalese healthcare services are managed by doctors and graduates other than Health Care Management. This, however, is not their area of specialization. Being involved in the managerial works, their work often faces diversion. And this will be checked only when courses as these produce graduates and postgraduates with sufficient knowledge and expertise to manage the healthcare services. This course definitely has the potential to open door to lots of opportunities for its graduates and postgraduates. For want of expert health care managers and administrators, the hospitals and nursing homes in Nepal has been witnessing a number of difficulties. And BHCM program available in the country can play an important role in addressing the problems to some extent.