Medical assistants needed for growing retail clinics

Healthcare facilities are looking to become more efficient and cost effective as patients begin to act more like customers, rather than just dependable users.

 

“Hospital leaders trying to figure out how to handle challenges such as increased consolidation, growing competition, diminishing profit margins and pressure to contain costs can think their way through the answers by considering some new rules, health economist Paul Keckley writes in H&HN Daily,” Julie Bird writes in an article for Fierce Healthcare. “None is ‘necessarily a new idea, but each contributes differently to answering a hospital’s question about what to do,’ writes Keckley, managing director of the Navigant Center for Healthcare Research and Policy Analysis.”

 

In the report highlighted by Bird, ideas are offers such as consumers of healthcare services are customers, replacing the idea that patients are users.

 

“The future for healthcare is bright: It’s a high profile, in-demand industry that’s expected to grow 6 percent per year for the next decade,” Bird writes. “But it’s bad news if Old Rules are followed en route to answering the ‘What to do?’ question.”

 

Healthcare facilities are changing some of their processes in an effort to be more cost effective and efficient. This includes streamlining the check in process and pre-clinical procedures, both of which rely on the work of medical assistants.

 

Today’s healthcare employers are looking for medical assistants with relevant training an ability to adapt to the new systems being put into place.

 

Medical assistants will also see increased demand as the number of retail clinics continues to grow.

 

“The healthcare market may grow overall, but a recent market report about how consumers are transforming U.S. healthcare projected a consumer-driven health market could cut hospital inpatient business by 40 percent over the long term,” Bird writes. “The report also projected 85 percent of diagnostic services would be performed by retail outlets.”

 

These new retail clinics will have a growing need for medical assistants.

 

“The rise of retail clinics has some critics worried about the impact on hospitals, such as leaving hospitals with patients whose conditions are more expensive to treat, and missing out on the opportunity to develop a long-term preventive care relationship with a primary care physician,” Bird adds.

 

Retail clinics are smaller than hospitals and treat more non-emergency cases. Medical assistants are uniquely qualified to work in these types of facilities. These types of clinics rely on different types of billing procedures and some medical assistants are able to perform types of clinical procedures.

 

As the healthcare industry continues to grow, so does the number of unique medical facilities that are different from doctor’s offices and hospitals. Traditional medical facilities still have a growing need for medical assistants, but these new types of facilities are also eager to hire medical assistants who have relevant training and experience.

 

The medical industry can offer jobseekers of all types a long-term career opportunity and years of expensive training isn’t necessary. The medical assistant training program at A-Technical College offers a quality program where students are trained in the skills today’s employers are looking for.