With a variety of new trends for healthcare management jobs, healthcare is evolving in the United States. These changes are being shaped by the alterations outlined in the Obama Health Care Initiative and by the Supreme Courts 2012 mandate for affordable care. These new requirements will change the way most companies, hospitals, long-term health care facilities, private practices and insurance companies deal with healthcare. Many of these institutions will be forced to look at their patients and members as consumers and customers. With an estimated 615,000 management positions in Health Care in the United States in 2008, and that number steadily growing, healthcare leaders must embrace changes in regulations while adapting to market changes.
Increased Size of Hospitals and Healthcare Systems
In the next ten years most hospitals and health systems will increase in size to improve the efficiency and the quality of their health care to the consumer. These consolidations will result in larger facilities and increase the need for those to manage the day-to-day operations of these facilities. This trend will drive the job market requiring many new qualified Health Care Managers. The emphasis on providing healthcare for all populations will expand the need for providing medical facilities in rural areas across the United States. These facilities will need staff, including Health Care Administrators to run the facilities.
Cost Cutting in Healthcare For the Future
Many Healthcare Facilities are being forced to operate in a more cost effective manner, in order to remain open. Predictions are that hospitals will have to cut their operation costs by up to 20 percent to stay solvent. This will push the need for more positions in Healthcare Management to keep these facilities running effectively and efficiently. With an estimated thirty two million Americans who previously could not afford insurance now requiring to coverage, these government subsidized insurance companies will also need to expand. There will be a huge increase in those needed to manage the care for these newly insured.
Community Based Health Care Centers
With the skyrocketing cost of traditional hospital care, there will be more of an emphasis on providing community health systems. This will be provided through ambulatory Health Care centers, urgent care centers, larger physician practices and other community facilities. These community-based centers will keep cost down for medical care and help to provide care for the communities it serves.
Aging Population of “Baby Boomers” Generation
Those born between 1946 and 1964, the “Baby Boomers,” are quickly approaching retirement age. At least some portion of this approximated 28 percent of the US population will need long-term care units. This trend in healthcare will provide challenges to provide adequate medical care and staff the facilities that will be required to provide it.
The way Health Care Management existed in the past is being reinvented. New trends show a growing need for qualified Healthcare Administrators to staff these community-based centers. The United States Department of Labor predicts that the need for Healthcare Administrators and Healthcare Services Managers will boom in order to keep up with new facilities and efforts to keep up with new mandates. With new and changing trends in healthcare, it will be an exciting and demanding time for those pursuing careers in Healthcare Management.