Demand is strong for managed care executives
New positions gain prominence with maturation
Think demand for managed care professionals has reached its saturation point? If so, you’d better think again.
Demand is as high as it has ever been, and there’s plenty of built-in momentum for it to go even higher, according to a managed care salary survey conducted by Warren Surveys in Rockford, IL. (For specific figures, see chart, p. 129.)
"We are a long way from having a glut of managed care professionals," says Bill DeMarco, MA, president of DeMarco & Associates, the parent company of Warren Surveys. "And everything we see points to a demand for executives with solid managed care experience remaining strong well into the foreseeable future."
DeMarco attributes this trend to three main factors. They are:
1. Hospitals are increasingly moving toward managed care, creating regular demand for executives and administrators who know how to handle the risk of pre-paid patients.
2. Physician practice management companies are a rapidly growing player in the managed care landscape. "They seem to always be looking for managed care executives to run their organizations," DeMarco says.
The practice management business is also getting more specialized with the advent of organizations that only handle specific diseases, procedures, or carve-outs. "As this trend continues to grow and move forward, we will see demand continue to increase," he adds.
3. Traditional insurance companies are also starting to offer capitated managed care products. "Some of these insurance companies are fighting for their lives to get good managed care people," DeMarco says.
Over the past couple years DeMarco says he’s also noticed several new skill sets gain in prominence, some to the point where they have become their own positions. These positions include:
• Utilization review and quality assurance directors.
"These positions have really come on strong," DeMarco says. "Now, all of a sudden, it seems like everybody is hiring these folks."
• Government relations executives.
"In the past, the duties of making sure you were in compliance with all state and federal regulations were usually hired out to a law firm or an organization that specialized in this area," he says. "Today, what we are seeing is rather than hiring a firm to do this and paying a retainer, organizations are finding that it is cheaper to hire someone in-house."
Government regulations pile on the work
This change also alludes to an increasing workload in this area, particularly with Medicare and Medicaid regulations "which have been piled upon plans and provider almost to no end," he adds.
• Wellness coordinator.
"One of the most encouraging things we’ve seen is the increase in prominence of the wellness coordinator," DeMarco says. "It’s a real positive sign that we are starting to put the maintenance back into the health maintenance organization, which is something I think the industry had lost sight of for a while."
• Health infomatics executives.
While Warren Surveys doesn’t track this position yet, DeMarco predicts that it soon will as health care information continues to gain in importance and prominence. "In the past this was always rolled into the operations part of an organization," he explains.
"But I see this area coming on strong and can envision the day when we have a chief information officer or a health informatics specialist coming onto the scene." An ideal candidate for such a position would be an MD who also has a masters of information systems degree," DeMarco concludes.
[For a complete copy of the 235-page survey, contact Warren Surveys, 3218 Fawnridge Court, Rockford, IL 61114. Telephone: (815) 877-8794.]
Bill DeMarco, President, DeMarco & Associates, 3218 Fawnridge Court, Rockford, IL 61114. Telephone: (815) 877-8802.
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