EHR Jobs Boom: 8 Hot Health IT Roles
Electronic health records have fueled a growing career specialty. Consider these in-demand health IT jobs.
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Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have created a burgeoning genre of health IT jobs. While health IT once accounted for between 5% and 10% of a hospital's IT budget, it now represents 25% to 35%, Kevin Holloran, a director in Standard & Poor's nonprofit healthcare group told Beckers Hospital Review. A large portion of that money goes toward EHRs -- both in terms of technology and people.
Hot EHR-related jobs range from entry-level medical record technicians to executive positions at hospitals and physician offices. Technician jobs alone are expected to increase 22% between 2012 and 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Approximately 272,286 people will be EHR technicians by 2022, compared with 186,300 two years ago, according to BLS estimates. But 73% of healthcare providers surveyed last year by Towers Watson reported difficulty hiring professionals certified to work with Epic, the leading enterprise EHR for large hospitals and health systems.
Health organizations don’t just need individuals to design, install, and implement EHRs, redesigning workflows and maximizing efficiencies. They also need trainers for classroom and virtual courses, consulting firms to provide ongoing support and maintenance, and mobile experts to integrate EHR data with mobile devices for patient access.
Even before healthcare organizations roll out EHRs, some hire clinical transformation specialists, who do the upfront work to understand the organization's clinical requirements and how these must be translated into the software, said Kimberly Bowden, president and CEO of health IT recruitment firm 1st Solution USA. The ranks of chief nursing information officers (CNIOs) are swelling, too, as hospitals recognize the invaluable role nurses play in smoothing the integration of technology into clinical processes, she noted.
The move to ICD-10, albeit delayed for another year, means healthcare organizations must hire people proficient in converting ICD-9 to ICD-10, Cherie Lester, senior healthcare IT recruiter at Holland Square Group told InformationWeek. Likewise, she sees an uptick in demand for "optimization specialists" who troubleshoot EHR implementations after they go live. In some cases, health IT professionals contract with healthcare organizations at an hourly rate for optimization work, Lester said. Fees range from $55 to $75 per hour for a trainer to $65 to $110 per hour for a senior analyst, she wrote in her blog.
More hospitals want someone, whether it's an internal employee or partner, to reap analytics value, said Bill Fera, a principal at EY. They want to avoid hiring or using dedicated IT-based data analysts and allow business users to generate their own queries and data, he told InformationWeek.
This approach starts at the top of some organizations. Providence Health and Services, for example, recently began recruiting a chief medical information officer (CMIO) to oversee the design of its EHR, according to Glassdoor.
It's challenging to move into healthcare from other verticals, executives cautioned. Business intelligence, analytics, and data-warehousing skills are more portable than most, said 1st Solution's Bowden. Top health IT-specific certifications include Certified Health Informatics Systems Professional, Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems, and CompTIA Healthcare IT technician, according to the 1st Solution blog.
"Managers are much more open to taking people who are strong in [business intelligence and] have good SQL skills, and teaching them to be healthcare people. Still, if there are two people and one has healthcare experience and the other does not, the healthcare person will win every time," she said.
On the following pages, we present the EHR jobs we found to be most in demand, according to sources such as Salary.com, published reports, job postings, and recruitment sites. We consider salary rage, recommended certifications, and overall hiring outlook. Is there a role here that's right for you?
Search any reputable job or business networking site such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor, or Monster.com and you'll find healthcare organizations, software companies, cloud providers, and consulting firms seeking specialists proficient in Epic EHR security. As the most widely used EHR in the world, Epic systems must be secured against external and internal attacks -- a full-time (and lucrative) job, many discover. Many healthcare organizations underestimate their internal risks, according to a report by IS Decisions. About 22.3% of healthcare employees share passwords, the study found.
The annual cost of healthcare fraud was between $75 billion and $250 billion in 2009, according to a 2012 government survey by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Office of the Inspector General.
Salary range: $36,000 to $85,000
Experience/certifications: Bachelor's Degree. Certifications from organizations such as the International Association for Healthcare Security & Safety, (ISC)2's HCISPP, or the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) mesh together healthcare and security.
Outlook: sizzling
Consulting firms specializing in health IT seek Cerner specialists proficient in everything from cloud and security to training and workflow. Candidates may work at corporate offices, from home, or at the client site, depending on the position. Dell was one of many companies recently recruiting a Cerner consultant via LinkedIn.
Salary range: $40,000 to $133,200
Experience/certifications: BA. MBA for some positions.
Outlook: hot
Epic training is in demand, as healthcare providers across the country seek experts proficient at teaching staff about the EHR. Epic EHRs house about 40% of US patients' records -- and that translates into tens of thousands of hours of training time for nurses, doctors, office staff, accounting departments, and other healthcare professionals across the nation. Organizations use a mix of classroom and on-demand training, including webinars, videos, and podcasts to onboard new staff and educate employees about new features. This situation creates an ongoing pool of students.
Salary range: $46,300 to $87,000
Experience/certifications: Bachelor's degree
Outlook: hot
Executives must oversee how an organization's EHR fits into its overall patient care initiatives. While a director or other executive will have a voice in any new EHR, the role primarily focuses on maximizing the current investment and managing the EHR team. This includes overseeing contracts; developing and mentoring staff; managing communication, objectives, and goal evaluation; and adhering to IT best practices.
Salary range: $70,000 to $110,000
Experience/certifications: BA. MBA often preferred, and five to ten years of experience.
Outlook: hot
While the chief medical informatics officer represents physicians, the CNIO represents nurses and brings a clinical and operational perspective to the implementation of EHRs and other clinical systems. Where previously CNIOs may have been seen as secondary to CMIOs, they are gaining more recognition and income, 1st Solution's Kimberly Bowden said. "I think hospitals are starting to look at those two positions as more equal." The CNIO often reports to the CEO and typically oversees a number of departments including informatics, quality, and case management in support of health services such as obstetric, ambulatory, and emergency medicine.
Salary range: $175,000 to $275,000
Experience/certifications: MBA in informatics and a nursing background. Financial skills may be helpful.
Outlook: sizzling
Wanting to get the most out of their Epic implementation, healthcare providers are recruiting Epic analysts and consultants. These titles incorporate a diverse range of skillsets and salaries, depending on experience, geography, and organization size. To succeed, these professionals must be experts in Epic EHRs and the business of healthcare.
Salary range: $40,000 to $133,200
Experience/certifications: BA. Epic EHR.
Outlook: hot
Although up to 80% of hospitals and about 50% of doctor offices already own EHRs, according to government estimates, many are upgrading or replacing their first-generation models, industry executives say. "A lot of groups bought an EHR maybe three or four years ago. They're back in market now," said Edwin Miller, VP of product management at CareCloud, which sells a cloud-based EHR. Other providers want to integrate their multiple EHRs or allow their EHR to communicate with other applications critical to workflow and data. This means new opportunities for integration and evaluation skills.
Salary range: $45,000 to $135,000
Experience/Certifications: BA
Outlook: hot
The delay of ICD-10 implementation gives healthcare organizations more time to complete and test (or, for laggards, to begin) the conversion to the updated coding standard. It may also give facilities more time to recruit staff or consultants to find coders.
The delay of ICD-10 implementation gives healthcare organizations more time to complete and test (or, for laggards, to begin) the conversion to the updated coding standard. It may also give facilities more time to recruit staff or consultants to find coders.
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