New clinical and leadership roles have emerged in response to the national transformation of the healthcare industry, particularly influenced by new regulatory incentives, penalties and mandates from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the shift from volume- to value-based care and efforts to control costs, according to the report, "Emerging Roles in Healthcare 2014" by AMN Healthcare.
According to the survey, new healthcare workforce roles are in demand that only had a minimal presence or did not exist at all a decade ago, especially jobs in health IT. Leadership positions such as chief experience officer and chief population health officer have also begun making an appearance in hospitals and health system C-suites. However, while the survey indicates respondents recognize the need for these new roles, only a small percentage have actually begun recruiting for them or have plans to recruit.
AMN Healthcare conducted a survey among 323 clinical and human resource leaders from healthcare organizations across the United States. Several questions gave respondents the chance to select multiple answers. Highlights from the survey are shown below.
- Eighty-six percent of respondents recognize the growing need for new types of clinical and nonclinical healthcare workers due to healthcare industry changes that are driving the movement toward team-based and person-centered care.
- Respondents indicated transitioning to value and outcomes-based payments was a primary reason their organization is recruiting or planning on recruiting new positions, with 77 percent of respondents rating this transition as very important. Ninety-four percent said improving patient care quality is a very important reason for recruitment, and 68 percent chose expanding population health and community-based care. Other important reasons include redesigning care delivery, implementing new technology, reducing errors and readmissions, and improving patient activation and satisfaction.
- Of the new positions respondents indicated their organizations were planning to recruit or already are recruiting for, the most popular response was ICD-10 coders, selected by 44 percent of respondents, followed by care coordinators (41 percent).
- Twenty-five percent of respondents said they are currently recruiting or plan to recruit for medical scribes, 16 percent for chief experience officers, 13 percent for population health officers and chief strategy officers, and 11 percent for chief clinical transformation officers.
- In preparation for the rise of telehealth, 24 percent of respondents are currently recruiting or plan to recruit telehealth-trained physicians, while 53 percent have no plans to recruit for this position.
- Only 21 percent of respondents indicated their organizations were currently or planning on recruiting telehealth-trained RNs and 56 percent said their organizations had no plans of doing so.