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3 Allied Health Degrees In Demand Because of the Health Care Reform Act

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3 allied health degrees in demand because of the healthcare reform act

The healthcare reform act will make some allied health jobs more in demand than others,

Regardless of any political position on healthcare reform, it is expected to create a surge in health jobs on top of the already-expected growth in the industry brought on by an aging population and the expansion of healthcare services.

Among other changes, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would require most people to have health insurance and puts restraints on what insurance companies can do about refusing coverage or charging too much.

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The injection of perhaps 30 million new people into the healthcare system along with a complex web of rules, much deeper involvement by insurance companies and 2,700 pages of new legislation will fuel a need for workers to deal with it all.

Then there are two earlier laws earmarking federal money to promote electronic health records that rely on health information technology. The laws use Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements to reward doctors and hospitals that switch to computer records and penalize those who don’t.

Those changes mean people with a healthcare administration degree could see their roles expanded and new demands for their skills, as will someone with a health informatics degree.

People who complete medical billing and coding certificate programs also will be in higher demand since workers are already grappling with new rules.

Here are three fields likely to see a boost from healthcare reform.

Healthcare Administration

Managers, clinic supervisors, department heads, directors and administrators of all types will be called on to understand the new laws and adapt to the changes.

Hospitals, clinics, insurance companies and everyone else will need people to handle the new healthcare system and continue dealing with pressures to lower costs, increase efficiency and constantly recruit and retain workers, according to Dennis Shea, professor and head of the Department of Health Policy and Administration at Penn State.

“Individuals who understand quality control, process implementation and operations will be in demand,” Shea said in a 2010 article on the school’s live.psu.edu website.

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The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) agrees and estimates jobs for workers with a healthcare administration degree will increase by 22%, more than three times the rate of all management positions.

Most people with a healthcare administration degree, either a bachelor’s or master’s, work in hospitals, nursing homes or for group medical practices, the BLS said. While a bachelor’s degree can open entry-level jobs, a master’s is required for nearly all management level positions.

The median pay for management positions in healthcare is $84,000, according to the BLS, but annual pay ranged from $51,000 to $144,000.

Medical Billing and Coding

The demand for records could also reach offices where people who complete medical billing and coding certificate programs find more demand for their jobs.

These workers are responsible for documenting all health information for patients. That can include test results, medical history, symptoms and treatment along with coding for billing and insurance.

The BLS said medical records and health information workers could see job demand increase by 21%, partly driven by the shift to electronic health records. More electronic health records also will force technicians to adapt to new software and added security.

Median pay in the field is $32,000, according to the BLS, though the top 10% earned more than $53,000.

The American Health Information Management Association has certification in a number of fields such as registered health information technician and certified coding associate or specialist.

Health Information Management

They might be called IT directors or systems managers. These workers oversee a facility’s computers with responsibilities ranging from installing new hardware and software, to security and keeping pace with industry changes and developments.

The need for increased security in IT departments in general will create a demand for these jobs, the BLS said. Also, healthcare reform laws put a heavy emphasis on patient privacy and the need for secure computer systems.

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Job growth, estimated at 18% through 2020 by the BLS, will be fueled by the push to electronic records and increase in health informatics.

The BLS said the median pay for computer or information services managers, the field that includes health information management, is about $115,000, but for workers in healthcare and social services, the pay was $101,000.

 


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