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Jobs in health care administration promising in 2012 – Metro US

Jobs in health care administration promising in 2012

There’s no such thing as a recession-proof job. But health care, specifically on the administration end, is looking increasingly secure. A recent survey released by staffing and job-search service, Robert Half International projects an average increase of 3.4 percent in salary next year for positions such as third-party billers, with some jobs seeing salary bumps of more than 8 percent.

What exactly defines an administrative position in health care? “Anything that doesn’t touch a patient,” explains Daryl Pigat, a market manager at Robert Half. This includes medical billing managerial and support roles, insurance claims analysts, health care claims processors and even customer service positions.

New health care legislation is partly responsible for the increased openings in health care administration. “The health care reform legislation on the surface provides for a number of job opportunities in the future,” says Craig B. Garner, a former CEO of a community hospital and current CEO of consulting service Garner Health. “Health care reform is primarily a collection of pilot programs, preventative health care services and forward-thinking research.”

Specifically, Garner is interested in Title V in the reform, a section that addresses the health care work force. “[In Title V] you can find commissions, grants, student loan programs, recruitment and retention programs, as well as training and educational opportunities, all with ample funding to support a new generation of health care workers,” he says.