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 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 these jobs.
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.
The adoption of electronic medical records is a necessary step, one which is expected to usher the healthcare industry into the future. But while the need is there, healthcare providers still remain skeptical and cautious of the move. Not because they do not wish to change the system, but because the costs of which would be significant and they warily eye the adoption of outsourcing such as with medical billing services in order to fulfill the need without breaking the bank.
Although outsourcing has gained worldwide acceptance, the US healthcare market still faces doubts over accepting offshoring as a solution for the healthcare reform, which includes the adoption of electronic medical records and the transition of medical coding to ICD-10.
In what Forrester (NASDAQ:FORR) estimates is a $50 billion market, prospects for increased revenues from healthcare related services is at its highest.
India is one of the countries currently positioning itself at the fore in an effort to obtain a significant share of business in the sector. The country is one of the leading outsourcing destinations in the world, catering to about 35-40% of the business process outsourcing market based on the third quarter 2010 results as presented by the Everest Group (NYSE:RE) on the 28th of October.
In an interview with HCL Technologies (NSE:HCLTECH) on the 21st of October, Vice-Chairman and CEO Vineet Nayar, names healthcare along with public services as verticals that the company is currently focusing on. Cognizant President (NASDAQ:CTSH) and CEO, Francisco D’Souza, also advised on the 2nd of November that the company believes that the healthcare reform will be one of the drivers for growth in the outsourcing business. Outsourcing company 3i Infotech (NSE:3IINFOTECH) meanwhile announced on the same day that that it is expanding its service offerings in North America, including healthcare through its business process outsourcing group.
Southeast Asian country, the Philippines, on the other hand is also positioning itself. A country boasting of an increased surplus of healthcare professionals, the country is moving to convert this surplus into business process outsourcing professionals working in the healthcare sector such as medical billing and medical coding. The Philippines, like India, is one of the top outsourcing destinations. In a study by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) which was released on the 27th of October, outsourcing revenues in the country, particularly in IT-BPO is continuously growing. According to Oscar Sañez, BPAP CEO, “The industry can grow from $9 billion in annual revenues and approximately 500,000 direct employees today to $20 billion and 900,000 employees by 2016 if current conditions are sustained and with a lot of hard work.”
Business process outsourcing firm, SPi Global, announced on the 28th of October that the company is eyeing the expansion of its healthcare business. According to Mike Beninato, CEO of SPi’s healthcare group, “The amount of money being paid for medical procedures in the US is escalating. Hospitals are looking for ways to do it more efficiently.” SPi owes about one third of its revenues to healthcare services such as providing medical billing and medical coding outsourcing services.
But while India and the Philippines both offer good prospects for US healthcare providers, offshoring concerns, one of the foremost being the issue of data security and the legal ramifications of sending sensitive information offshore, still plague healthcare providers particularly hospitals. According to George Conklin, CIO of Christus Health, “As soon as it [patient information] leaves the confines of the U.S., it’s not subject to the same rigorous laws as we are.”
A concern that although valid, may have to be surpassed with the healthcare reform deadline fast approaching. A fact which outsourcing providers keep in mind.
The new blog of Compass Professional Health Services called Quit Wasting My Healthcare is focused on helping individuals and employers receive higher quality care and stop losing money on senseless healthcare costs. Quit Wasting My Healthcare is written by healthcare experts: a physician and a former hospital finance executive. They form a team with integrated clinical and economic acumen that is so badly needed in today’s healthcare world. The writers have seen the frustration, the inefficiency and the substandard care that is the US healthcare system from the front lines. The writers also have the data and have identified over $1 billion of waste in just one major metropolitan area alone. Employers are getting fleeced. Patients are not getting the care they deserve. Quit Wasting My Healthcare is your guide to the underlying problems and their solutions.
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(3) Price differences of over 200% even within network
You’ll find ideas on employer health benefit plan designs, thoughts on saving money when visiting the doctor, and comments on the politics of healthcare in the United States.
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Not reading it is a lost opportunity to learn something smart about healthcare.
About Compass:
Compass Professional Health Services was established in 2005 with the mission to help employers and individuals lower their healthcare costs while maintaining or improving the quality. Our employees and leadership bring unparalleled expertise in provider charge structures, patient guidance, and health satisfaction metrics. This experience uniquely positions Compass as a leader in employee healthcare support. Our services return control to the patient in a way that benefits the entire healthcare system. Better care, lower costs, happier patients – employers who use Compass see the difference.
Mission:
The Mission of Compass Professional Health Services is to enable consumers and employers to receive and purchase higher value healthcare.
Vision
Vision:
The Vision of Compass Professional Health Services is to be the premier provider of information and services that shift consumer and physician behavior towards lower cost and higher quality care.
Philosophy:
Every person has the power to become a better healthcare consumer.
While some would argue that the practice of outsourcing of healthcare services such as medical billing and medical coding services would be detrimental to a company, there are those who would lobby for the move, citing successes among other outsourcing sectors such as customer relationship management or other back office functions. Others fear that the adoption of healthcare outsourcing would not only be detrimental to the company but the whole industry as well.
In a report by the American Society for Quality (ASQ), dated the 1st of November, 56% of respondents to a survey conducted among more than 300 ASQ members and practitioners were substantially dissatisfied with their current provider in the areas of innovation and making process improvements.
Also on the 1st of November, an article from the Wall Street Journal cited how Indian healthcare outsourcing providers will have a hard time convincing US healthcare providers, specifically, US hospitals, to outsource with them. According to the article, the qualms according to healthcare providers arise from worries over efficiency as well as legal concerns.
But while the concerns do exist, outsourcing companies remain optimistic. IT and business process outsourcing provider, the ConJoin Group acquired healthcare IT business process outsourcing provider, PHNS on the 8th of November. Richard Garnick, the ConJoin Group’s founder, says that the acquisition is “a significant opportunity to dramatically scale up operations and improve the PHNS product offering in response to unprecedented North American demand for healthcare IT services”.
The TriZetto Group has even announced on the 8th of November that its plans to expand for its business process outsourcing services to include front-end processing, enrollment, billing and claims administration.
Meanwhile, US-based company, Globallogic, advised on the 15th of November that they will be increasing their manpower to about 2,000 with half of this in India. According to Peter Harrison, the company’s CEO, “We have seen healthcare merging with telecom in the form of devices and this convergence is expected to bring a lot of growth to our business, globally as well as in India.” Aside from that, the company is looking at an acquisition in India.
And while these are just some of the developments in the healthcare outsourcing sector, a market commentary by Marlin & Associates on the 10th of November, speculates that with the increasing trend of outsourcing coupled with the pressure of healthcare reform to improve healthcare services and technology, some companies will likely stand out in building a “next generation Healthcare Information Network”. These include UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) subsidiary, Ingenix, Verizon, AT&T (NYSE:VZ), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and IBM (NYSE:IBM).
As seen in the recent developments above, with the increasing competition, ever-nearing deadline, and the pressures from healthcare providers to provide better services and quality, then it is likely that the healthcare as we know it today will be revolutionized into a well-organized and technologically sound system. Call it an overly optimistic view of the future state of healthcare and healthcare outsourcing, but then again, all innovation does not have its own eureka moments.
