Overview
The numbers don't lie: Providing 13.5 million jobs and 8 out of the 20 fastest growing occupations, health care is the country’s largest industry. Compared to other industries, the health-care industry as a whole is expected to realize a relative increase in the number of career opportunities across the spectrum of its many specialties.
People are living longer and thus demand more and higher quality preventive and long-term care. The demand for health-care workers is expected to grow faster than the average rate for all occupations between 2000 and 2010. In particular, the demand for home care aides, registered nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, physical therapists, nontraditional health aides, and physicians will continue to increase at a healthy pace. This trend also applies to technical and administrative jobs, as hospitals continue to focus their energies on more efficient management and profitability.
Many people are attracted to the health-care industry for its human touch and service-oriented aspects. However, the harsh reality is that the industry as a whole is all business these days. Hospitals, nursing homes, home health care, specialized clinics—and even to some extent organizations that provide alternative medical treatments—are being run increasingly like any other major for-profit organization. Simply put, health care today is all about big business—with its focus sharpening on driving profits higher.
The health-care industry provides diagnostic, healing, rehabilitation, and preventive services. The individual physician is often the consumer's (or patient's) primary point of contact with the system. However, it is the health-care organization itself—that is, the hospital or health management organization (HMO)—that finances much of the industry today; it represents the preponderance of the physician's revenues. The lion's share of these revenues, in turn, comes from employee health insurance plans, Medicare (health insurance for Americans over the age of 65), and Medicaid (health insurance for Americans on welfare). Health-care organizations (with the exception of county hospitals) are generally run for profit. This disconnect between organizations based on the profit motive and those operating as nonprofits creates tension among doctors and other health-care professionals intent on prescribing the most cost-effective treatments and conducting diagnostic tests. Health-care organizations are increasingly driven to cut costs across the board.
Trends
Alternative Medicine
A growing segment of the population is turning to a wider, more diverse set of techniques and therapies to meet health-care needs. The catchall category of alternative medicine refers to any practice outside of conventional medical treatments, including homeopathy, acupuncture, massage therapy, and chiropractic. The granddaddy of the movement is Dr. Andrew Weil, who pr...
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