Nurses, activity directors and aides may be the face of a nursing home, but it's the office manager or business manager who keeps things running. The person in this job is responsible for managing many of the day-to-day financials. A good nursing home business manager brings compassion, organization and accounting skills to the role, along with a passion for working with and serving the elderly.

Job Description

Each nursing home has its own organization and job titles, so the office manager or business manager position includes different duties and responsibilities at different facilities. Typically, though, these professionals aren't responsible for any of the medical care that patients receive. Instead, they oversee financial and personnel issues. The business manager may be responsible for accounts payable and accounts receivable and monthly billing of residents. In a large facility, the business manager may supervise the administrative assistants who handle those duties. The business office may also manage the residents' trust accounts, which are used to pay for extra services in the facility. They may oversee employee payroll.

Coordinating with insurance providers and Medicaid is often a huge part of a nursing home business manager's job. The person in this job can expect to spend a lot of time meeting with other administrators in the facility and also meeting with residents and their families to work out billing issues.

Education Requirements

This job requires a lot of math and accounting skill, so nursing homes generally require that candidates have at least some higher education in those areas. An associate degree in accounting or bookkeeping may be sufficient, or a four-year degree may be required. It depends on the employer.

Industry

Office or business managers are employed in all kinds and sizes of nursing homes. You may work as part of an administrative team or oversee most of the business tasks yourself if the facility is small or understaffed. These jobs are typically full time and have steady office hours.

Years of Experience and Salary

No conclusive data shows a link between years of experience and average nursing home manager salary. Ultimately, these jobs are like other types of office jobs, and you can expect your salary to steadily rise as you gain more experience and take on more responsibility.

A nursing home manager salary varies widely from place to place depending on the scope of the job and the budget of the facility. A typical business office manager salary is anywhere from $46,000 to $62,000 per year as of 2018. These jobs aren't as lucrative as some office management positions in the health care industry. Compared to the average medical office manager job salary, for example, this pay range is a little low.

Job Growth Trend

Aging baby boomers are big business for nursing homes. By the year 2030, one in five people in the United States will be retirement age, census data predicts. They won't all need nursing homes, of course, but it's safe to assume that the demand for nursing home care will grow in the coming decades, and that means that business manager jobs are safe.