It’s no secret that being a Radiologic Technologist has been
difficult in many parts of the country due to fewer available positions. Everyone is bracing for the impact of health
care reform and cuts in Medicare reimbursement, which will soon be awarded by
the Government at a percentage based on patient satisfaction. For the first time in history, the labor
budget will be forced to depend on good service. These issues have caused many hospitals to
initiate patient satisfaction campaigns, and to start cutting budgets. With the number one expense for any health
care institution being labor, the jobs just aren’t plentiful right now. As I will address in more detail in my new book (releasing this summer), this should change dramatically within the
next 3-5 years:
As I have explained in a prior post (see related posts below), the Baby Boomer
generation makes up the largest percentage of the work force in the United States. As of 2011, they have begun entering the retirement
age range. We have seen a delay in this
due to problems with conventional retirement savings plans being affected by
the current depression in the economy.
People simply just can’t afford to retire yet, no matter how much they
want to. Eventually, the market pendulum
will swing the opposite direction as it has consistently done for many decades.
As the largest population in our work force retires, it will
create two needs. The first need I
will deem the Characteristic Effect on Employment (if you’re a student and
haven’t studied this yet, it will make sense soon). First, as the Boomers retire, their current
roles will need to be filled with experienced up-and-coming professionals
(ejection of the k-shell electron). I
anticipate a lot of these positions to be at the supervisory or managerial
level (close to the nucleus – a lot of binding energy) due to the amount of
time they have spent in the work force. The
vacancies created by people filling the Boomers’ jobs will need to be filled by
new grads and current employees with a few years of experience (filling of the
k-shell by valence electrons). Second,
our patient population will increase. As
the percentage of employees drops, the percentage of in patients in hospitals
will rise, creating a demand for nurses and allied health professionals to care
for them.
Due to the high cost of keeping patients in hospitals,
expect to see more ambulatory care options rising up.
For us Radiographers, outpatient imaging
centers and urgent care centers will be hiring left and right. It costs a lot more money in labor and
supplies to keep someone in the hospital for a series of tests than to have
them performed as outpatient exams, requiring only the labor cost of the person
performing the procedure for the amount of time the procedure takes. It would be good business for health care
institutions to invest in more outpatient facilities to handle patient
procedures that do not really need to be performed as an inpatient in a
hospital. This should also help with the
over-use of the Emergency Room that is widely experienced across the country fueled
by one reason: convenience.
I know it has been tough out there, and I completely understand that getting a job today can be tough, but
I truly believe we are on the cusp of change.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has predicted a 28% growth in our fieldbetween 2010 and 2020, but what they could predict is the state of the
economy. The data for their predictions
have not changed, but the timing has. It
will get better soon.
Related Posts: "Are There Too Many Radiography Grads?"
