Summary: Writing In Health Care Administration

Writing in Health Care Administration Health Care Administration is a fantastic field for someone who loves health care, but hates the physical blood and guts, which the majority of health care fields entail. Health Care Administration is the business side of health care. The field of Health Administration combines management with allied health. The Administrators manages the economics which are necessary for the deliverance of effective health services. They work in almost every situation that health care may be needed, which may include: schools, clinics, the health department, health insurance companies, or the hospital. The specific career that I desire to work in is directing hospital services via a pediatric ward in the hospital.
Health Care Administrators do not on a day to day basis conduct extensive writing. The most common day to day writing Administrators conduct is through e-mails; they also quite often prepare memos and business letters during specific times when the issues either need to be addressed or after they have been dealt with as an informative basis. Furthermore, all three of these types of writings are unique and have their own style and guidelines that the Administrator is required to remember and uphold. The most common kinds of writing in Health Care Administration are e-mails, memos, and business letters (Miller and Jones).
An e-mail is simply electronic mail. E-mails are used when direct and slightly informal communication needs to occur between the administrator and someone else. I have learned from job shadowing that the situations in which the administrator would use an e-mails would be for simple communication between themselves and someone else. The communication can either be a question, or a simple statement or contain a more complex dialectic, the choice is up to the administrator. A memo resembles an e-mail but tends to be longer and quite more formal. A memo is used by an administrator when a problem and/ or solution, or a specific task or assignment needs to be addressed to another employee (Perkins). A business letter is an extremely formal form of communication that the administrator will typically use only when needing to speak to someone in a higher position. A business letter may also be about something of severe importance (Angeli and Brizee). E-mails, memos, and business letters are all three different types of writing that require their own style and context. An administrator uses e-mails more often than a memo or a business letter just because it is quicker, however, if needed they must be able to prepare a memo or a business letter when either document is required (Ho). Knowing every detail for each of these business communication outlets is
imperative when being a Health Care Administrator. 
With every type of writing, whether it be an e-mail, a memo, or a business letter that a Health Care Administrator must prepare they must remember why they are writing the document.
“You should take time to consider the purpose of your document in order to determine how you should express the message you wish to convey” (Driscoll). The characteristics of the most common writings are: length, style, tone and format (Driscoll). However, along with those characteristics, the most important feature of all types of professional writing is to be confident. In the article about the tone of business writing, Dana Driscoll stated, “You can feel confident if you have carefully prepared and are knowledgeable about the material you wish to express… As you prepare (professional) documents, you want the reader to do as you ask or to accept your decision. In order to make the document effective, you must write confidently’. I have learned from firsthand experience that e-mails are typically short to moderate in length. E-mails also tend to stay within 2 to 5 sentences. The subject line is a very important detail of an e-mail. The subject lets the receiver know what the e-mail contains and if its level of importance. The typical tone of an email is causal and informal, however, if e-mailing someone whom you should speak to formally then the tone can be altered. There is not a specific type of format that administrators must use in e-mails. I learned from my Allied Health class that the
only format requirement is that the font be in black, as well as the e-mail must be addressed to someone and include the administrator’s name at the end. According to Courtnay Perkins, a memo resembles a more formal e-mail. A memo should not be longer than a page, if it is longer than it is considered a business letter. The style of a memo is typically formal and detailed. The tone of a memo is authoritative and explanatory, because the administrator is either address a problem or implementing a task when using a memo. The format of a memo must include who the memo is addressed to, who it is coming from, the date, and a subject. It is important to remember that this is formal writing so when the administrator address the memo they must put the person’s full name and title instead of a nick name or just a first name (Perkins). Angeli and Brizee indicated that a business letter should be longer than a page. The business letter is the most formal type of writing that a Health Care Administrator will have to complete.  The emblematic processes involved in the most common types of writing are procedures, methods, and developments (Ardaugh). I have learned that the procedure of an e-mail is fairly simple. The administrator uses the e-mail address for the recipient of the e-mail and follows the characteristics listed in the previous paragraph while using netiquette; which are the etiquette rules of the internet. The only method that is involved in an e-mail is rereading before you send to make sure there are no mistakes in spelling, grammar, or context. I have also learned that the development of an e-mail is also simple, the administrator must have a specific reason for the e-mail and “think before they type”. The procedures and methods involved in a memo are rather strict. “Standard memos are divided into segments to organize the information and to help achieve the writer 's purpose.” (Perkins). The administrator must include the heading segment, the opening segment, the context, the task segment, summary segment, the discussion segment, the closing segment and any necessary attachments. The development of a memo must be thought out and planned. A memo has a clear purpose and plan of action which must be fully developed before writing (Perkins) According to Angeli and Brizee, the procedure of a business letter is also very strict, meaning that are certain guidelines for the letter and certain information that the letter must cover. The business letter includes: the sender’s address, the date, the recipient’s address, salutation, body paragraphs, closing, any attachments, and the typist’s initials. “When writing business letters, you must pay special attention to the format and font used.” (Driscoll). The business letter is done in block format, which is left justified and single spaced, with a double space between paragraphs. The development of a business letter must be more thought through than the memo (Angeli and Brizee). This is the most formal type of writing and must include exceptional grammar and a complex plan of action.  The similarities between the writing in my ideal profession to the writing I am having to currently do and will have to continue to do are not exceptionally difficult to see. In my every day college career I receive or write an e-mail. I will have plenty of practice when beginning my career with this form of writing. A Health Care Administrator’s memos resemble my class notes in context, although they are not written to anyone specifically the context is similar. My class notes are either about the subject at hand or the background of the subject, which closely resembles the context of a memo. A business letter is closest to a paper. I have already had to write a good amount of paper in my furtherance of my education and I know that I will have to write plenty more. A business letter’s body and closing are almost identical to the way that papers are usually formatted. The body paragraphs in both are used to justify the main points. The closing paragraph sums the rest of the paper together. The only difference is that papers are normally longer than your average business letter. However, it is not extremely uncommon to find very important and detailed business letters that are just as lengthy as the papers I will have to conduct in my future years on my pursuit of my degree in Health Care Administration. In a day to day basis Health Care Administrators who work as director of a specific field of health care do not prepare that much writing. The majority of their everyday writing will be in e-mails. However, if the administrator is in charge of a large staff, they will conduct memos very often to keep their employees informed and up to date. Administrators write a business letter whenever they have been working on a specific task and have completed it and want to show their boss exactly what they had done, such as a new budget or new marketing strategy. If you enjoy health care and business, but do not desire to write in extensive amounts on a daily basis, then you will greatly enjoy Health Care Administration.

Works Cited
Angeli, Elizabeth, and Allen Brizee. "Welcome to the Purdue OWL." Purdue OWL: Basic Business Letters. N.p., 8 Aug. 2010. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. .
Ardaugh , Brent . "Welcome to the Purdue OWL." Purdue OWL: Medical Writing N.p., 25 June 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. .
Driscoll, Dana . "Welcome to the Purdue OWL." Purdue OWL: Tone in Business Writing. N.p., 21 Apr. 2010. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. .
Ho, Connie. "What is the Job Description for a Healthcare Administrator?." Nursing School Programs. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. .
Miller, B., and Andrew Jones. "Medical Office Administration." WiseGeek. Conjecture, 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. .
Perkins, Courtnay . "Welcome to the Purdue OWL." Purdue OWL: Memos. N.p., 24 Sept. 2010. Web. 5 Feb. 2014. .