{"id":190,"date":"2010-03-04T16:08:44","date_gmt":"2010-03-04T16:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/business-ownermagazine.com\/?p=190"},"modified":"2016-10-12T12:03:43","modified_gmt":"2016-10-12T17:03:43","slug":"health-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/2010\/03\/health-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Care"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">With more than 14 million workers and hundreds of thousands of industry participants, health care is one of the largest industries in the United States, as well as one of the most diverse in composition. Firms in the health care industry range from the small-town dentist who\u2019s seen the teeth of nearly every resident in the community with the help of only one employee, to the world-renowned pediatric hospital with hundreds of beds and more than 1,000 pediatric specialists on staff providing care to children across the world.<\/p>\n<p>Occupations in the health care industry are just as diverse. Those in the health care profession work as doctors, dentists, surgeons, registered nurses, medical assistants, paramedics and radiologic technologists, to name a few.<\/p>\n<p>Who\u2019s right for a job in the health care field? In its <em>Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-2009 Edition<\/em>, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said, \u201cPersons considering careers in the health care field should have a strong desire to help others, genuine concern for the welfare of patients and clients, and an ability to deal with people of diverse backgrounds in stressful situations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>How Many People Work in the Health Care Industry?<\/strong><br \/>\nAccording to the latest-available information compiled by the BLS, the health care industry employs 13.6 million wage-and salary workers and two million selfemployed and unpaid family workers, for a total of more than 14 million workers. There are more than two million registered nurses in the United States; 96,000 dentists; 468,000 physicians and surgeons; and 141,000 physical therapists. There are millions more service occupations, as well as office and administrative support occupations.<\/p>\n<p>According to the BLS\u2019 Employment Situation Summary for August 2009, employment in the health care field continued to climb in August (up 28,000 jobs), with growth in ambulatory care and nursing and residential care pacing employment gains in the market. The BLS further noted that employment in hospitals was little changed as of that same month.<\/p>\n<p>Since the onset of the recession, the health care field has added some 544,000 jobs. By contrast, employment in the financial services industry has decreased a staggering 537,000, and the construction market has lost 1.4 million jobs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Where Do Employees in the Health Care Industry Work?<\/strong><br \/>\nHealth care employees work in a myriad of settings such as hospitals, nursing homes, physicians\u2019 offices, laboratories and outpatient care centers. According to the BLS, approximately 580,000 establishments make up the health care industry. The BLS further noted that more than three-fourths of health care establishments are doctors\u2019 offices, dentists\u2019 offices and other health practitioners. Hospitals make up just one percent of all health care establishments, though they employ 35 percent of all workers in the health care field.<\/p>\n<p>Health care establishments are typically small firms. According to the latest BLS statistics, more than 85 percent of nonhospital establishments in the health care sector employ fewer than 20 workers. In fact, nearly half employ fewer than five workers. Hospitals naturally have large workforces. Seven out of 10 hospital employees were employed by establishments that had more than 1,000 workers, states the BLS.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What Kind of Occupations Are Available in the Health Care Industry?<\/strong><br \/>\nThere are numerous occupations in the health care industry for people of all education levels. Some health care occupations such as physicians, surgeons, dentists, nurses and physical therapists require specialized education and extensive training. However, for those who want to work in the health care field as a nursing aide, a dental assistant or medical assistant, little or no specialized education or training is necessary. People who desire to be dental hygienists and health information technicians, for example, usually attend training programs of one to two years. Other occupations in the health care industry include emergency medical technicians and paramedics, social workers, radiologic technologists and medical transcriptionists.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How Much Do Workers in the Health Care Industry Make?<\/strong><br \/>\nAverage earnings in the health care field vary widely and depend on the occupation and the level of education and training an individual has. According to government labor information, average earnings of non-management positions in most health care sectors are higher than the average for all private industries, combined. On average, workers in the health care industry earn an hourly wage of $18.73, working an average of 33.3 hours per week. Registered nurses\u2019 average annual wage is well above average. They make $27.54 an hour, and nurses working in hospitals make slightly more at just over $28 per hour.<\/p>\n<p>Health care workers in hospitals typically earn the highest salaries, as the percentage of jobs requiring higher levels of education and training is greater than in other health care sectors, states the BLS. Those in nursing and residential care facilities and home health care services typically earn the lowest wages, as many work part-time hours.<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/>\n<strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-194 alignleft\" title=\"HealthCare\" src=\"http:\/\/business-ownermagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/HealthCare-w10-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/HealthCare-w10-2.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/HealthCare-w10-2-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/>What is the Employment Outlook of the Health Care Industry?<\/strong><br \/>\nHealth care is one of the fastestgrowing occupations around. Throughout the next decade, health care will add more jobs to the U.S. economy than any other industry or occupation. The BLS expects three million new wage-and-salary jobs in health care by 2016. In its Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-2009 Edition, the BLS said overall employment in the health care sector will increase 21.7 percent from 2006 to 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Future gains in the U.S. workforce will be heavily concentrated in the health care industry. In fact, seven out of the 20 fastestgrowing occupations are health care related, including home health aides, medical assistants, physical therapist assistants and physician assistants, which will see employment increases of 49 percent, 35 percent, 32 percent and 27 percent, respectively, through 2016, states the BLS.<\/p>\n<p>The employment outlook of registered nurses is especially good. The median age of registered nurses is increasing, and the BLS reports that an insufficient number of younger people are replacing them.<\/p>\n<p>The following table illustrates BLS-provided employment prospects of a few of health care\u2019s largest sectors. As the table shows, BLS\u2019 projected rates of employment growth for the various industry segments of health care range from a low of 13 percent in hospitals, to a high of 55 percent in home health care services. Employment in offices of physicians and dentists will grow faster than employment predicted for the total health care industry, advancing 24.8 percent and 22.4 percent, respectively, states the BLS.<\/p>\n<p>According to the BLS, job growth in the health care sector will stem from the fastgrowing elderly population; their health care needs and increased life expectancy will positively affect employment in the home health care and nursing and residential care segment. Advances in medical technology also continue to improve the survival rate of sick and injured patients.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Employment Outlook in Health Care by Industry Segment, 2006-2016<\/strong><br \/>\nWith projected employment growth of more than 20 percent during the next decade, health care is clearly one of the top markets for job openings in the coming years.<\/p>\n<p>According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, average annual growth in national health spending is predicted to advance 6.2 percent per year from 2008 to 2018, outpacing overall economic growth. For 2009, growth in health spending is forecast to be 5.5 percent. Health care\u2019s share of GDP is projected to continue increasing in the years ahead. As national health expenditures continue to mount, health care workers of all ranks will remain in high demand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Health care is booming, and it is among the fastest-growing fields in the United States. According to government labor statistics, employment in the health care industry is projected to experience double-digit gains throughout the next decade. <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/2010\/03\/health-care\/\" title=\"Health Care\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[63,64,62],"class_list":{"0":"post-190","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-bls","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-u-s-bureau-of-labor-statistics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3879,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions\/3879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}