Dive Brief:
- A new study has concluded that emerging clinical and leadership jobs that didn't exist 10 years ago are arising from the transformation of the healthcare system.
- New clinical positions that didn't previously exist include care coordinator, navigator, health coach, medical scribes and telehealth-trained practitioner. Emerging leadership roles, meanwhile, include chief population health officer, chief experience officer, chief clinical transformation officer and chief strategy officer. And new technical roles include clinical documentation specialist and ICD-10 coder.
- Despite the growing need for such positions, acknowledged by 86% of the 300 healthcare professionals surveyed, only a small percentage of healthcare leaders said they are actively preparing to meet these job needs.
Dive Insight:
The birth of these new positions comes not only from ongoing change in the healthcare industry, but specifically from the requirements of health reform, as well as the shift to new care models and new forms of reimbursement that emphasize measurably improved quality of care. "For example, the increasing chronic conditions among older people and the push to reduce readmissions and improve patient satisfaction require greater care coordination between patient, provider and payer," said Susan Salka, president, CEO and director of study sponsor AMN Healthcare. "So it's not surprising that the clinical position of care coordinator, which was relatively unknown a few years ago, is today in great demand."
It's notable, however, that healthcare organizations seem to be moving slowly in filling these positions. While adding staff in a time of financial uncertainty may be difficult or even painful, it seems unlikely that healthcare facilities can meet the goals of ACO's and value-based reimbursement without adding many of the positions described in AMN's study. If healthcare organizations want to keep up with change and lead innovation, it seems they're going to have to bear down and do more hiring.