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Careers in Healthcare

There are many reasons why healthcare has emerged as one of the top careers choices. To quote data from the U.S. Department of Labor – 10 of the 20 fastest growing occupations belong to healthcare, and most healthcare jobs involve less than four years of college education. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Career Guide to Industries, 2010-11 Edition, Healthcare)

Music to many ears, isn’t it? Let’s face it – college education is not getting any cheaper. If you have to pay through your nose for a decent education, it’s your right to expect results. And the sooner you finish your education, the quicker will be your entry into the workforce.

That’s why some of the sunrise and even classic healthcare careers are so appealing – they don’t require extensive education, they offer exciting work opportunities and growth potential, and they don’t pay poorly at all. And this has led to an increase in the demand for health care degree programs that are fast, focused, and flexible.

Let’s explore some popular careers in healthcare and their academic requirements:

Nursing: The American Nursing Association defines nursing as the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations.

It’s clear from the definition that a lot of responsibilities rest on the gentle shoulders of a nurse. She is the one who takes charge of a sick person and helps him on the way to recovery and health once the doctors have done their job.

To become a nurse, the minimum qualification is an Associate’s degree in Nursing or a hospital-administered diploma along with the requisite license from the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). Many RNs also enter the profession with a Bachelor’s degree or pursue one after getting some experience under their belt. A Master’s degree is needed to move into the role of an Advanced Practice Nurse or a Nurse Educator and even for management-level nursing positions.

Respiratory Therapy: It’s one of the most promising careers in healthcare, offering job security, growth potential, and stimulating work with attractive compensation. Respiratory Therapists diagnose, treat, and care for patients with respiratory and pulmonary disorders.

They perform a large number of important duties that include conducting diagnostic exams, managing ventilators and other devices, and educating patients and their families about respiratory disorders as part of their work routine.

The minimum accepted credential for the role of a Respiratory Therapist is a two-year Associate’s degree in Respiratory Therapy along with certification from the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC). A Bachelor’s or graduate degree can help you get more senior roles in the field.

Medical Specialties: Medical Specialties is an umbrella term for a number of healthcare careers such as medical assisting, medical coding and billing, physical therapy, laboratory assisting, etc.

The good thing is that you can learn all the disciplines as part of a single degree – an Associate’s degree in medical specialties – and choose one depending on your interest.

Medical specialists, especially pharmacy technicians, medical assistants, lab assistants, etc. are in great demand and enjoy excellent job prospects.

Healthcare Administration: Healthcare administrators have the critical job of ensuring that the delivery of healthcare is smooth and patient needs are met. They manage operations in a healthcare unit and, depending on their specialization and scope of work, either lead an entire facility or a particular department within a healthcare unit.

A health care administration degree or education in a related field such as public health, public administration, or business administration is required to become a health services manager.

While you may find mid-level roles as administrative assistants or assistant department heads with a Bachelor’s degree, a Master’s degree is a prerequisite for senior managerial roles.

Obama’s Healthcare Reform Bill and its Impact on the U.S. Healthcare Markets (Pharmaceuticals, Medical devices and Health insurance)

According to a 2009 study by the World Health Organization, the U.S. healthcare system ranks 37th among the healthcare systems of 200 countries. The U.S. healthcare expenditure is considered to be one of the highest in the world, accounting for 17.5% of its GDP in 2009, as compared to an average of 8% to 9% in countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

This has been a major factor necessitating healthcare reform, along with increasing healthcare costs and health premium rates, as well as the high number of the uninsured (about 47 million or approximately 16% of the total population).

President Obama signed the health reform into law in March 2010 to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare, address the inefficiencies of the existing healthcare structure, and to decrease the number of uninsured people in the U.S. The health reform bill outlines several provisions such as universal health coverage, cost containment, increase in insurance market competition, excise tax on medical device manufacturers, and lower drug costs for Medicaid and Medicare. The health reform provisions thus directly impact the U.S. healthcare industry and its stakeholders.

The report forecasts and analyzes the future impact of the health reforms on the U.S. healthcare industry. This covers direct as well as indirect impacts of the provisions on pharmaceutical, medical devices, and health insurance industries. Indirect impact refers to provisions that do not specifically apply to these industries. Each section offers a strategic analysis of the impact of Obama’s health reforms on the U.S. healthcare structure.

What makes our reports unique?

We provide the longest market segmentation chain in this industry- not many reports provide market breakdown upto level 5.

We provide 10% customization. Normally it is seen that clients do not find specific market intelligence that they are looking for. Our customization will ensure that you necessarily get the market intelligence you are looking for and we get a loyal customer.

We conduct detailed market positioning, product positioning and competitive positioning. Entry strategies, gaps and opportunities are identified for all the stakeholders.

Comprehensive market analysis for the following sectors:

Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, Biotechnology, Semiconductor and Electronics, Energy and Power Supplies, Food and Beverages, Chemicals, Advanced Materials, Industrial Automation, and Telecom and IT. We also analyze retailers and super-retailers, technology providers, and research and development (R&D) companies.

Key questions answered

What is the structure of U.S. healthcare system and what are the pitfalls within the current system?

What are the major provisions of the U.S. Healthcare reform?

How would the provisions of healthcare reforms affect U.S. healthcare industry in near future?

What will be the drivers and restraints for different stakeholders of the U.S. healthcare industry in the near future?

What can be the possible business implications for the U.S healthcare industry and its stakeholders such as Pharmaceuticals, Medical device manufacturers and health insurance industry?

What will be the impact of Healthcare reforms on the U.S. economy?

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Healthcare Plan Savings Discussed

During these times when hospital bills and professional doctors fee are high, medicines are expensive, and temptations for foods, drinks and vices are everywhere, staying healthy is a must. While some are gifted with good and healthy body, others struggle to maintain a healthy body. And with the price of healthcare plan contributing to the expenses we already have, there is a great need and knowledge on how to somehow cut the cost of healthcare plan.

Although you cannot do anything to bring down the price of your healthcare plan, you can manage to acquire significant saving by following these steps.

Stay Healthy – Yep! The golden rule if you want to live longer. Skeptical? Well, nobody blames you but if you would like to give you body a great chance of living beyond your life expectancy, staying healthy is worth the shot. If you aim to get a cheaper healthcare plan, then this is also a great way to achieve it. Since healthcare plan companies base the price of their plan on the status of the health of the individual, don’t be surprised if some might get higher rate than others. If you are conscious about it, then maintaining a healthy life could spare you from high healthcare plan rate.

Quit Smoking – Now that’s difficult! But if you are a kind of person who will do anything just to keep the healthcare plan rate to the minimum, you can always start by kicking the habit away. So what does it have to do with low healthcare plan? A person who smokes is more prone to healthcare claims than those who do not. And if you understand the business, you would realize that healthcare plan companies receive more claims from smoking plan holders. The tendency is to sanction higher healthcare plan rates to those who smoke. Think about it! If you quite smoking, you save from healthcare plan bills, spare you from the cost of your everyday cigarette consumption, and give you a better chance to live cleaner and longer life.

Exercise and Lose Weight- If you are part of the growing number of Americans who can either be classified as overweight or obese, then expect to have a higher healthcare plan price. It is wise to keep a normal body size and maintain it with regular exercise so you can get a desired healthcare plan rate.

Good healthcare plan selection – If it’s cheap, it does not necessarily mean it’s really “cheap.” Never let the price be your basis in taking a healthcare plan. As much as possible look for plan that gives you more benefits at the price advantageous to you.

Maximize other existing plan – If you presently have health insurance plan, make sure that you avoid getting another one with an identical coverage. This would surely drain your pockets by having unnecessary benefits you can never use. Also avoid buying unnecessary healthcare plan if you already have enough plan.

Know the type of plan you are buying – If you are buying healthcare plan for the first time, you should identify first the type of coverage you want. In this way, you can eliminate those unnecessary coverage you think you can never use. Remember that every coverage is paid so making sure that you can the healthcare plan that fits your need.

Healthcare Chief Financial Officers: an Evolving Role in a Changing Marketplace

In the current war for talent, organizations are looking for talented CFOs with the proven leadership capabilities and track records of contributing to their employer’s strategic objectives. This article reveals the ways in which CFOs can differentiate themselves based on the ability to lead and manage in connection with established strategic goals.

The New CFO Role

We are now in a knowledge-driven marketplace where brainpower is the key resource for most businesses, most notably healthcare. In healthcare, the organizational winners are those that select individuals with considerable brainpower and subsequently apply that talent in the most creative ways. Recruiting and selecting such talented professionals is a crucial strategic issue and is a primary objective of healthcare organizations today.

While the objectives and requirements of healthcare organizations are changing, many veteran CFOs and finance professionals are feeling the pressure associated with this change. Roles that were once clear and defined are now changing and expanding, and many of you are asking, “How do I become a more effective contributor? What new skills do I need to position myself in this changing role and evolving industry?” Some of you are even asking, “Should I leave healthcare?”

So where do you, as CFOs, see yourselves in today’s knowledge-driven marketplace and emerging healthcare organizations?

First, your fundamental role continues to change. Just a few years ago, your role primarily revolved around managing a relatively large number of employees who collected and analyzed data for both cost containment and reimbursement maximization. Now, as a result of market forces and Medicare cuts associated with the Balance Budget Act, you are called upon to make business decisions regarding mergers and/or divestitures as well as the continuation of programs.

The new organizational realities demand that you assume a very different role. In the old model, finance had significant influence over operational issues. Finance is now called upon to assist operations in creating and delivering the value demanded by a very dynamic marketplace. This change moves you from a strictly financially driven focus to more of a business consultant role supporting operational initiatives. Your role as the CFO has expanded to include management oversight of non-financial functions in your organization, such as medical records, materials management, facilities, security, telecommunication, environmental services and human resources. Are you becoming the COO?

Second, this significant change in circumstance leaves you facing three conundrums:

The first is helping operations respond in a financially viable way to the quickly changing demands of the marketplace — a marketplace that keeps asking for new, different, and better services at lower costs.

The second is figuring out how to maintain consistent and sufficient cash flow in the face of the constantly changing payment formulas put forth by the government, insurance companies, and HMOs.

The third, and perhaps the hardest part for you, is keeping these two dynamic forces in alignment. Too often, the way your organization is paid is out of sync with the services demanded by the marketplace.

There is a shift from the scorekeeper duties of the old economy to the identification of solutions in the new economy. What hasn’t changed is that you still have the fiduciary responsibilities for protecting the assets of your organization. You must do this within the constraints of the reimbursement systems imposed upon your organization without compromising its ability to provide excellent services that are market-responsive. As such, you probably find yourself in the paradoxical roles of:

- Being a police officer: While being everyone’s pal

- Being an individual contributor: While also being a team player

- Being task-oriented: With strong relationship building skills

- Being predictable: Yet responding dynamically

- Being an historian: Yet planning for the future

- Having accounting knowledge: Applied to clinical outcomes

- Being a data gatherer: While maintaining a systems view

While the finance department is responsible for both sides of the chart above, your focus is increasingly on the right hand side.

The New CFO Skill Set: What it Takes to Succeed as the New CFO

The changing nature of healthcare and the resulting paradox in which you find yourself are inescapable. So, as the CFO, you must prepare yourself to meet all of the demands that are currently being placed upon you. You need to take an inventory of your current abilities and objectively compare them to the expertise you will need to move forward.

There are three areas in which you need a high level of knowledge to be an effective CFO because, in the new organizational reality, you are:

• Part business analyst. As such, you still need accounting/finance knowledge.

• Part COO. Your changing role requires a comprehensive understanding of the healthcare industry, not only from a financial perspective, but now also from an operational viewpoint. The familiar quote, “No margin, no mission and no mission, no margin,” defines the hard reality of what you are facing.

• Part lawyer. Negotiating and reviewing provider and supplier contracts, dealing with the buying and selling of assets, working with financing issues, etc., necessitates a high level of legal knowledge.

As an entrepreneurial CFO, you need two primary skills to maximize your abilities in the new economy.

The first skill involves critical thinking: the ability to sort through limited data quickly and determine its true importance; the power to obtain and maintain a long-term perspective; and the capacity to utilize “out-of-the-box,” creative thinking. CFOs must now be able to examine data from an opportunity perspective and not just from a bottom-line point of view. This means that finance cannot continue to only look backwards at an historically based budget and increase the coming year’s budget by 5% to reflect the Consumer Price Index.

Now, a CFO must read the marketplace and work with the value creators–the service providers– in the healthcare organization to explore trends and re-tool operations to meet the needs of a fickle marketplace. Your organization may even need to consider taking a financial risk in developing a service delivery area in anticipation of it providing access to a new, profitable market going forward.

The second primary skill is the ability to create and work within collaborative relationships both inside and outside of the organization. Departmental staffs no longer work independently, isolated from other departments. Their responsibilities often call for them to work crossfunctionally and collaboratively, integrating and supporting each other’s work.

Internally, in the new environs of healthcare, a CFO is frequently called upon to pull together multiple entities within the organization and assign them responsibilities that are interdependent.

Therefore, if issues arise which need to be arbitrated, CFOs must have well-developed conflict resolution skills in order to create mutually beneficial relationships. Resolving issues in a manner in which everyone wins is the key to creating long-term, productive relationships within the healthcare setting.

Externally, you must pull together some semblance of a unified, effective whole with the entities within your organization’s control and on whom it depends to fulfill its mission, i.e., payers, doctors, suppliers and other service providers. Meanwhile, you must still maintain fiscal health.

To Summarize

Healthcare organizations are looking for and rewarding those individuals with the brainpower and evolving skill sets necessary for the new CFO role of part business analyst, part COO, and part lawyer. For those with a talent for critical analysis as well as the ability to build collaborative relationships, the new environment in healthcare will be challenging and rewarding. Embracing these parameters for a successful career will allow CFOs to play a leading role in making healthcare organizations both market-responsive and fiscally sound.

The Pursuit of Jobs in Healthcare

Jobs in healthcare will become more plentiful in coming years as members of the “baby boomer” generation age. There will be an abundance of opportunities in healthcare careers, particularly in geriatrics, end-of-life care and hospice and nursing home work. In addition, the large number of severely injured and disabled veterans returning from occupation duty in Iraq is already creating an urgent demand for workers in all healthcare fields that will continue for decades to come.

If this kind of work interests you, you’ll need to prepare for healthcare careers with health care training and education. Online degrees are a convenient and economical way to start the training you’ll need in order to qualify for jobs in healthcare.

In addition to “hands-on” careers in healthcare in fields such as nursing, pathology, radiology and physical therapy, the U.S. Department of Labor anticipates a large number of openings for healthcare management jobs as well as healthcare administration jobs.

Healthcare administration is an area that will take on a great deal of importance in the coming years. If you saw Michael Moore’s movie “SiCKO,” you understand just how dysfunctional the present U.S. healthcare system is. The financial power of greedy insurance and pharmaceutical corporations and their undue influence over corrupt members of Congress presents considerable obstacles. However, there is growing rage among American citizens over this issue that may very well force changes at the state level.

Healthcare administrators are among those who see the problems firsthand and understand the issues; therefore, these people are in a position to help shape healthcare policy in the coming years as individual state governments begin the type of healthcare reform that most members of the U.S. Congress are unwilling to address.

Whether you choose an administrative or a hands-on career in healthcare, you’ll be able to complete your coursework at home, often at your own pace, by attending college online. Contrary to what you may have heard, online courses are similar to traditional classes at a brick-and-mortar university or college. You’ll hear lectures, read required texts, submit papers, take exams and even participate in class discussions. The only difference is that you’ll be using Internet technology such as podcasts and electronic bulletin boards for these interactions.

As you might imagine, training for healthcare careers in “hands-on” fields such as nursing, anesthesiology and pathology require some real-world clinical experience. Once you are at that stage, many schools can arrange for you to complete these requirements at a local hospital or other medical center near your home.

Paquin Healthcare, is reckoned as the nation’s leading specialist in healthcare-based retail

Let us look back once! Few years back the branded stores took their places in the big hi-tech malls and now the glitzy stores are found online! In this era of internet shopping and online marketing the gigantic malls are adding values to their service lines by replicating themselves online. Yes ! That is the catch line. Now ecommerce has overshadowed almost everything and with the development of healthcare e commerce the very concept of online shopping has gained a whole new facet. Apart from jewellery, clothes, toys or games, now healthcare products including the baby products and other medical equipments are found online .

In today’s world, time is indeed precious and therefore time is almost synonymous to money. We all have busy schedules and healthcare e commerce facilitates professionals, Business / corporate world, students and almost all who do not want to spare time for healthcare shopping yet want to enjoy the thrill of shopping at the comfort of home. Healthcare Ecommerce has a great extent furthered the idea of offering an array of quick and reliable healthcare options for those who need.

Online healthcare or more precisely the idea of healthcare ecommerce is available nowadays via a variety of sources and these sources might range from commercial, to non-profit, and even to the governmental sources.

The online healthcare sites have shown sufficient success in revolutionizing the idea of traditional healthcare. Hospitals now are providing convenience to clientele through the detail retail services within the hospital itself. And, in the recent tight economic times, when hospitals are faced with the challenge of increasing revenue, the healthcare e commerce or the retail services have ushered in a new era.

Paquin Healthcare, is reckoned as the nation’s leading specialist in healthcare-based retail. The company’s core mission is to increase revenue opportunities and minimize risks for healthcare organizations.