is it possible to work in health related position with Accounting degree?

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hello dear forum users,

I am junior, majoring in Business Administration with emphasis in Accounting. I have two more yrs to finish my degree. But I like nursing so much. The reason that I couldn't choose nursing is that nursing degree which I will get in the US will not be the same as the one in my country. If I had chosen nursing and go back to my country someday, I won't be able to make a living by being a nurse. That's why I had to choose business related field which will allow me to be able to find jobs anywhere.

I like accounting too, but I would like to use it in Health related field as I enjoy helping people.

Do you know any positions that an accountant can do in hospitals? What kind of positions I can be eligible to apply if I receive my BA in Accounting?

I am also thinking about going for acceleratory program in Nursing after getting my bachelor degree. But, I don't know is this is a good option or not.

Has anybody done that? is the salary be better if I get acceleratory Nursing after my bachelor degree or pursue Masters in Accounting?

I need your advices.

I am feeling that I am stuck and made bad choice by choosing accounting

thank you

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Specializes in Telemetry.

I work in the accounting department of a hospital. Some of our nurse managers at the hospital have nursing degrees and business degrees. You could do something like that.

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I work in the accounting department of a hospital. Some of our nurse managers at the hospital have nursing degrees and business degrees. You could do something like that.

thank you for your responce jennafezz,

Are you accountant too?

How does it work? Should I get a nursing degree too if I want to work as an accountant or in managerial positions at the hospital?

where do I start? I believe that they don't hire new graduates for those kinds of positions.

what is the starting wage?

can you share some info about your career path? How did u get that position.

p.s: I am so scared reading some posts in this forum. so many people changed from accounting to nursing. I am afraid if I won't be able to find job with accounting degree:crying2:

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Flower,

Good Heavens! In the US Healthcare, we probably have just as many people working in accounting as we do clinical providers. :chuckle Our reimbursement and financing systems are so complex that it takes an army to figure them out. I doubt whether US healthcare accounting experience would translate well to countries with simpler, (saner?) finance systems.

I haven't had any exposure to non-healthcare accounting, but I understand that healthcare accounting is a bit different and is considered a sub-specialty. I would suggest you check out the HealthCare Financial Management Association (HFMA) website to get more information http://www.hfma.org/

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Flower,

Good Heavens! In the US Healthcare, we probably have just as many people working in accounting as we do clinical providers. :chuckle Our reimbursement and financing systems are so complex that it takes an army to figure them out. I doubt whether US healthcare accounting experience would translate well to countries with simpler, (saner?) finance systems.

I haven't had any exposure to non-healthcare accounting, but I understand that healthcare accounting is a bit different and is considered a sub-specialty. I would suggest you check out the HealthCare Financial Management Association (HFMA) website to get more information http://www.hfma.org/

Thanks rbezemek for the info,

I checked the website and still couldn't find clear cut info about how healthcare accounting differs from non-healthcare accounting. What I mean is that what specific classes I will have to take throughout my education to be a healthcare accountant. I am gonna talk to my advisor about it too.

After doing some research, I feel like to do Accelerated 1-year BSN program after getting my bachelor degree in accounting. so it will allow me to do my accounting job when I go back home or do nursing while I am in the US. I am going to finish up pre-reqs while I am pursuing for my accounting degree.

What I want to know is that difference in starting salaries/wages of Nusing, Bachelor degree in Accounting or Masters Degree in Accounting.

Because I read that Accelerated 1-year BSN program will take at least one and half year. I want to know if it will be worth it if I want to invest my time and money to the Accelerated 1-year BSN program instead of doing masters in Accouting or taking CPA exam during that period of time.

Has anybody here done some research on that (comparing nursing vs accounting in salary and benefits in bachelor vs masters level) or faced similar decision making process.

please, share some experience, knowledge and suggestions with me.

I greatly apreciate you help. I really need your help now

thanks

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

Here in the U.S. the billing for healthcare services is a huge part of the business part of the business end. I don't know how it is handled in other countries. Because of all the insurance companies and government payers involved and now that its all been computerized, it's gotten very big here. Because we're so anal about documentation, the billing is tied in with it all. Medical coders turn clinical documentation of care that was given into numbers that computer programs recognize so bills can be generated (accounts receivable). Caregivers (nurses, doctors) focus on doing what they do with patients and they aren't always aware of the business end of things. However, there is one professional organization, AHIMA, that does represent this group of healthcare business workers (http://www.ahima.org/ )

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