The healthcare industry is expected to boom in the years to come with a projected growth rate of 26.5 percent from 2012-2022. Patricia Pittman, PhD, codirector of the GW Health Workforce Institute at George Washington University and associate professor of health policy and management points out that by 2022, one in eight jobs in the US will be in the healthcare sector but the majority of this growth will be in non-hospital settings. The slowest growth will be in hospital employment as it is projected to increase by only 14 percent and will add approximately 826,000 jobs.
Some of the key healthcare staffing trends in the years to come include:
Increased Demand for Registered Nurses: Registered Nurses (RNs) will show the biggest growth. The number of nurses hired will increase by 526,800 within the next few years. Growth will be seen in the areas of advanced practice nursing, licensed practice nurses and licensed vocational nurses.
Population Health Development to Continue: Population health will continue to be an important part of healthcare reform and there will be a focus on data analysis and patient communication. Medical informatics will be an important part of healthcare and will help in analysing and deciphering vast amounts of healthcare data. Demand for social workers, behaviourists, community health workers and outreach coordinators will increase. Population health executives will also be in demand and there will be an increase in the number of population health departments.
See Also: Creating an Effective Workforce
Patient Satisfaction Top Priority: Patient satisfaction will continue to be an important achievement goal. Healthcare will continue to see a surge in consumerism and healthcare providers who have excellent soft skills will be more successful. Organisations will be evaluated on the basis of patient experience, patient satisfaction and reputation.
Adopting Technology: Technology will continue to be the driving force behind increased employment in healthcare. Increased use of patient portals, video conferencing tools, telehealth and virtual consultation through mobile phones/tablets will continue to increase.
Role of HR Will Expand: As new workers join healthcare, the HR suite will also expand accordingly. More recruiters, generalists and human resource specialists will be hired to help and manage new employees. Demand for human resource personnel with more tech and data analysis skills will increase and focus on workforce planning will also increase. HR leaders better at employee engagement will be more successful as compared to those who lack such skills.
Source: Healthleaders Media
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