Seven of the 20 fastest-growing occupations in the future are in health care. An estimated 3 million new medical positions will be created nationwide in this sector by 2016.
Health care support occupations are among the services jobs expected to grow the fastest, estimated at 26.8 percent, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The increase is even larger in seven-county metro Denver, predicted to grow 35.8 percent to 33,067 health care support positions here from 2006-2016, according to the Colorado Department of Labor & Employment.
Medical support industries are among the 25 fastest-growing in metro Denver. They include ambulatory health care services adding 13,589 jobs, growing 30.5 percent. Similarly, nursing and residential care facilities are seen to add 5,795 jobs, growing 33.5 percent.
These sectors’ 50 fastest-growing jobs, that require work experience or on-the-job training, are personal and home care aides, growing 59 percent to 18,770 openings by 2016; home health aides, 56 percent, 12,220; pharmacy technicians, 45 percent, 5,290; and medical assistants, 40 percent, 9,580.
The 50 fastest-growing health care support occupations in Colorado, that require training after high school or an associate’s degree, are expected to be physical therapist assistants, growing 41 percent to 960 positions by 2016; medical transcriptionists, 38 percent, 2,240; surgical technologists, 37 percent, 1,900; and nursing aides, orderlies and attendants, 29 percent, 770.
Physician assistants are among the 50 fastest-growing occupations in Colorado, that require a bachelor’s degree or higher. Employment opportunities are seen to grow 34 percent to 1,770 positions by 2016.
Here is what they do:
• *Home health aide* – Provides caretaker services for recuperating, elderly and disabled patients at home, rather than in a health care facility. Patients receive care with daily living needs, including assistance with bathing, dressing, eating, personal hygiene and comfort in hospice situations. Aides may administer oral medications and assist with medical equipment.
• *Medical assistant* – Clinical and administrative tasks are done in a doctor’s office and other health care facilities. Other duties are answering the telephone, greeting patients, filing and updating medical records, arranging hospital admissions, and preparing insurance billing and other correspondence.
• *Medical records technician/medical billing specialist* – Office tasks include documenting patient visits and procedures, processing claims, billing, collections, and possibly accounts payable and payroll. Must know ICD-10 coding and related software programs. There is little or no interaction with patients. Many do not work for a clinic or hospital, but for a company that provides these record services for health care clients.
• *Medical transcriptionist* – This employee types medical reports dictated by doctors and other professionals into a computer with word processing software. They may clarify statements and correct grammar, and need to know medical jargon/abbreviations and spelling. Confidentiality is essential, along with the ability to catch errors in diagnoses. This is an ideal work-at-home position, either through contract or as an employee, and can be performed any time.
• *Nursing aide, orderly or attendant* – These assistants perform basic duties for hospital and long-term-care patients. They adjust patients to prevent and ease bedsores, bathe and feed them, empty bedpans and assist with walking.
• *Pharmacy technician* – In this occupation, workers interpret and fill prescriptions under the supervision of a pharmacist, run the cash register at the pharmacy and assist in other duties. They work at hospitals, nursing homes and assisted-living facilities where, also under a pharmacist’s supervision, techs read patient charts and prepare medications.
• *Physician assistant* – An occupation that can perform many responsibilities of a physician, it has heavy patient contact. PAs can take and record patient vital signs, advise them, examine and perform some treatment and therapy, as well as prescribe medication, all under the supervision of a physician. In locales where a physician is not constantly present, a PA can provide primary care and make house calls.
• *Surgical technologist* – These specialists assist surgeons in the operating room, handling instruments, and preparing the patient and facility for the operation. They set up sterile surgical drapes, surgical instruments and equipment. They also wash, shave and disinfect the patient. The “scrub” also assists on the operating team, for example, by handing the forceps to the surgeon when requested.
More details about these jobs, including educational requirements and wages, is available online at BLS.gov/oco. Click on the first letter of the job, then select from the list.
_Tim Coy is a graphic designer/writer in the Denver Newspaper Agency’s Creative Services Department._