Healthcare

Industry Overview

Health care is the country's largest industry. 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.

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.  Nevertheless, opportunities in health care are numerous, with InternZoo listing many.