Healthcare Consultancy at Career Consultants Incorporated - Assignment Example

Cover Memorandum Geraldine Schliermacher Healthcare Consultancy for Ms. Schliermacher and the Consultants at Career Consultants Incorporated I’ve recently been hired by Career Consultants Incorporated as a consultant in my chosen career field that is Healthcare Consultancy. The boss, Geraldine Schliermacher, has asked that I should prepare a formal report that provides basic information about Healthcare consultancy career field to assist other consultants who will be working as career advisors. The written report is intended to these consultants and will provide them information regarding the occupational outlook for graduates of Healthcare consultancy field of study. I hope that you, after going through the submitted report, will be able to examine the profession of healthcare consultancy. Regards, Name: Healthcare Consultant Career Consultant Incorporated Report Geraldine Schliermacher Boss Career Consultants Incorporated Date: Dear Ms. Schliermacher My career is in Healthcare consultancy and my degree is in Nursing and this report describes related details of the career. Healthcare consultants are those people who are employed in the health care industry. It is a common practice of the Healthcare organizations to hire healthcare experts in order to examine its industry infrastructure, efficiency and revenue generation of the organizations. After a thorough exercise, the consultant pinpoints the grey areas and suggests remedial measures to the management for improvement. The educational requirement for choosing this profession is a bachelor’s degree or a masters degree from a certified pharmacy school or college. The health care institution hires qualified consultants either on a full time basis or a part time basis as the case may be to seek their assistance to address the problematic areas to improve organizational efficiency and to re-organize existing structure in the light of the consultant’s recommendations. Corporate entities usually acquire the services of healthcare consultant to identify the loopholes in their system and its rectifications. However, companies that are small in size hire them when they feel it necessary or when they feel that one of the segment of the business is not performing to the desirable level. In order to streamline the things at their end, the health care business entity, hire the services of consultant to identify grey areas in their business and its possible solutions. The whole exercise requires initial research and to examine the data relating to the specific problem. The exercise in question comprised head counts, revenue generation capacity besides interviewing the existing employees of low and high profile to understand the on going problem. After completion of research, consultant has to submit his/her comprehensive report in black and white. In addition to that, an oral meeting between the client and the healthcare consultant could be fruitful provided that the findings are openly discussed in an appropriate forum. Requirements What sort of education is needed by the healthcare consultant? In general, aspirant applicant for the employment should be a bachelor or a master degree holder in his/her profession. However, the academic requirement may vary in accordance with the need of the employer. The employer prefers those degree holders (bachelor or master) who have majors like economics, marketing, human resource and business. Specialization in healthcare would be an added qualification (Education-portal.com, 2013). It is interesting to note that certification is not a mandatory requirement for the chosen career. The apex Institute offers designation to healthcare consultants who have good references and the required education. In order to keep the designation intact, healthcare consultant re-validates the certificate after every three years (Education-portal.com, 2013). There are number of educational institutions in the United States of America, which are providing online quality education. One such example is Walden University, which is the best online university that offers 90 quarter credit hour for online Master’s in Mental Health Counseling and family counseling program (Thebestcolleges.org, 2013). Employment Opportunities Employment opportunities in healthcare fields are abundant. Few of them are a) University Center b) LIU Brooklyn Campus c) LIU Post Campus and other Campus Locations. The applicant should have the qualities to flexibility bear additional workload during peak times, to stay current with the peer institutions, to be familiar with the best practices of the industry, to have interpersonal skills and to have the ability to resolve the conflict issues, to have written and oral communication skills and to have the ability to take decision the independently (Liu.edu, 2013). Fringe Benefits The employer always determines the salary and other perks of the employee keeping in mind his/her past experience/achievements (Liu.edu, 2013). Rewards There are number of rewards for those who have a track record of contribution/business promotion for their respective healthcare industry. In view of the hefty salary package and cash performance bonuses, large numbers of students are getting admissions in the best pharmacy schools and colleges. That is the reason why, number of students prefer to get admission in the known pharmacy institutions, which are increasing year by year (Santiago, n.d.). Growth According to survey conducted by the United States of America, eight out of top twenty fastest growing professions in the United States of America are none other than from the healthcare industry. At present the cited industry absorbed over 13 million employees. This is because of job security and better job opportunities. Further, you would not be in a fear of downsizing (Santiago, n.d.). Impact By associating with this industry, you will not have an impact individually, but collectively in terms of provision of variety of healthcare solutions to treat the ailments of all kinds (Santiago, n.d.). Role It does not make any difference if you are a GED or a PhD to avail exciting healthcare facilities (Santiago, n.d.). Competition Here, you may find most lucrative employment opportunities. “The most competent you are, the highly paid you are” (Santiago, n.d.). Fast paced It is true that Healthcare industry is a fast growing industry. In this particular industry, you have to face a new situation everyday in view of the new patients who are coming in (Santiago, n.d.). According to the economists, Healthcare has been the beacon light industry at this critical juncture of economic recession. The stake of cited industry in the job market comes to half million. This is perhaps one of the industries, which neither right sized nor slashed its payrolls. Therefore, it can be considered as a promising industry right now (Wolgemuth, 2009). There is no doubt that the recession has done considerable damages to many industries. There is no exception to some of the healthcare segments. In the United States, some of the hospitals suffered acute shortage of funds. The ultimate result was delayed medical care, hospital closings, rightsizing, and frozen employment opportunities. The experts of this industry consider such situations as “short lived” (Wolgemuth, 2009). We may guess the rapid growth of healthcare industry in the days ahead in the light of the survey conducted by Beacon Economics funded by California Wellness Foundation, Californias expected population will be 10.2 million by 2030. Thus, the State will have to employ 3.2 million workers by 2030. The economic downturn has hit some of its segments, in spite of that, overall growth is showing upward trend (Wolgemuth, 2009). As per the government estimation, there will be a twenty two percent growth in the health sector employment by 2006 and 2016. Susan Chapman, the director of Allied Health Workforce Studies, University of California-San Francisco, is of the view that state is facing a "serious shortage" of staff in the relevant disciples of healthcare due to funds constraints (Wolgemuth, 2009). The growth of pharmaceutical industry can be seen in 2010. During the year under discussion, the pharmaceutical sector employed nearly 272,000 workers. According to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), manufacturers earmarked a big chunk of $67.4 billion on research and development work in the same year (Selectusa.commerce.gov, 2010). The market share of the US Pharmaceuticals in the year 2010 as per the pie chart comes to 33 % as compared to other countries (Businessvibes.com, 2011). (Businessvibes.com, 2011) The market response for biologics, over-the-counter medicines and generics show potential growth in the years to come. In the year 2010, biologics earned 67 billion dollars in an environment of cut throat competition. This growth is linked with the growth of population. (Source: IMS Health). Generic drug sales in the United States come to the tune of $78 billion in 2010 (source: IMS Health) (Wolgemuth, 2009). Nowadays, Healthcare service providers are facing brain drain of nurses as compared to yester years. This has compelled some of the departments of the industry to terminate its unproductive workforce to meet the financial challenges. Positive attitude of the youth towards nursing could cause trouble due to unemployment. The recession is followed by unemployment, which remains on the high side. Only older workers hold their jobs. Hence, fresh entrants have to suffer for a long time. This is very alarming situation for the youngsters. Such situation definitely discourages young aspirants from entering in this field. Now the question before the American health administration is when old stuff is retired, who will fill this gap? (Wolgemuth, 2009) Consultant Pharmacists In each and every country around the globe, everyone is familiar with community pharmacists and the pharmacy in which, they practice to maintain their health. According to rough estimation, six out of every ten pharmacists, provide best possible care to a number of patients within the community set up. The ailing community members are in constant touch with the pharmacist. They talk to them freely when they are healthy, when they are ill, when they are just “browsing”, when they are concerned, when they have specific desires and when they seek advice/ share information. The services of Pharmacists to the community in specific and the society in general are applauding. They are providing them counseling with regard to preventive medicine. You may guess the workload on the pharmacists since they receive approximately two billion healthcare related inquiries in a year (Levenson & Saffel, 2007). Hospitals and Other Health Institutions There is a consensus of opinion that contemporarily hospital pharmacy comprises highly specialized area inclusive of nuclear pharmacy, drug and poisonous information and intravenous therapy. In addition to the information mentioned above, pharmacists render their services in the field of adult medicine, child medicine, oncology and psychiatry. The aforementioned services depend on the nature of ailments and the size of hospital. Since healthcare industry is diversified in nature, you may not ignore the demand of management expertise, administration, system development, planning finance, including finance and budgeting. There are around 38,000 licensed pharmacists who are working in the USA hospitals and nursing homes either on a full time basis or a part time basis. Keeping in mind the active involvement of pharmacists in every medicinal disciple, the demand for more and more pharmacists continue to grow (Levenson & Saffel, 2007). Managed Care Pharmacy Pharmacists are hot cake because of their utilities within the scope of managed care organizations. Managed care is a system in vogue in the USA especially designed to provide best possible patient care facilities through greater collaboration and coordination of medical services. The cited organization is striving hard to provide primary and preventive care to their patients in the most effective manner and on an affordable price. Due to yeoman services rendered by the said organization, numbers of patients are increasing with passage of each year. As per the survey, more than 130 million people received health care facilities from the managed care health organizations. Since the organizations in question assume a leading role in the health care program, opportunities for the pharmacists are growing tremendously. We identify herein areas in which, managed care pharmacists can play a dominant role (Levenson & Saffel, 2007). Other Areas of Pharmacy The pharmacists can absorb themselves in numerous federal, state and professional positions. Today, pharmacists at the federal level hold the critical positions in a) States Public Health Service b) Food and drug administration and c) certain branches of armed forces. It is lucrative in the sense that some of the positions in the Armed forces provide the status of commissioned officer and the status of bureaucrat in the civil service (Anderson, 2002). The state watchdogs keenly observed the performance of pharmaceutical industry and the pharmacists in order to preserve and protect the public health. The board of directors of the concerned industry comprised pharmacists, full time executives and the inspectors to effective monitor their day to day affairs. As the number of state health agencies are pouring in to strengthen their base in purchases, hence, a pharmacist is a must for the purchase of medical and hospital supplies. Therefore, every state has its own pharmaceutical association who employs an active graduate pharmacist from a college of repute to deal with the concerned issues (Anderson, 2002). It is not confined to above only; there can be several other domestic professional organizations to which pharmacists are guided with their talents. You may know other pharmacists who are engaged in highly specialized tasks. Further, the pharmacists are engaged in a number of other activities like advertising, packaging, pharmacy writing, magazine editing, and science reporting. A considerable number of pharmacists with necessary legal training are serving as patent lawyers or as legal consultant providing their legal opinion in accordance with pharmaceutical law. You may find pharmacists in the US space laboratories. Others are connected with big size manufacturing firms or organizations having specialization in botanic plant cultivation (Anderson, 2002). Conclusion The threadbare discussion on the role of pharmacists and the pharmaceutical industries, make you clear that the diversified business of health care industry is its strength. In the United States of America, vast majority of pharmacists are engaged in community healthcare service or hospital pharmacies besides long-term and ambulatory care facilities. Of course, the opportunity of success lies in one’s individual ability, education, and imagination. Recommendations Since this industry is flourishing by leaps and bounds, we recommend investing more funds in the diversified healthcare business to have more and more profits in the years ahead. References Anderson, S. (2002). The state of the worlds pharmacy: a portrait of the pharmacy profession. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 16(4), 391-404. BusinessDictionary.com (n.d.). What is career? definition and meaning. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/career.html [Accessed: 23 Jul 2013]. Businessvibes.com (2011). Industry Insight: Global Pharmaceutical Industry | BusinessVibes. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.businessvibes.com/blog/industry-insight-global-pharmaceutical-industry [Accessed: 21 Jul 2013].  Careerpath.com (2011). Top health care careers for your personality type | CareerPath.com. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.careerpath.com/career-advice/top-health-care-careers-for-your-personality-type/ [Accessed: 22 Jul 2013].  Education-portal.com (2008). Pharmacist: Educational Requirements and Career Summary. [online] Retrieved from: http://education-portal.com/articles/Pharmacist_Educational_Requirements_and_Career_Summary.html [Accessed: 22 Jul 2013]. Education-portal.com (2013). Healthcare Consultant: Job Description, Duties and Requirements. [online] Retrieved from: http://education-portal.com/articles/Healthcare_Consultant_Job_Description_Duties_and_Requirements.html [Accessed: 21 Jul 2013]. Levenson, S. A., & Saffel, D. A. (2007). The consultant pharmacist and the physician in the nursing home: roles, relationships, and a recipe for success.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 8(1), 55-64. Liu.edu (2013). Employment Opportunities - Long Island University. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.liu.edu/jobs [Accessed: 22 Jul 2013]. pubmeddev (n.d.). Occupational health and safety information... [Occup Med. 1997 Jan-Mar] - PubMed - NCBI. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9153063 [Accessed: 22 Jul 2013]. Santiago, A. (n.d.). Top 5 Reasons to Work in the Healthcare Field. [online] Retrieved from: http://healthcareers.about.com/od/whychoosehealthcare/tp/Why-Work-in-Healthcare.htm [Accessed: 22 Jul 2013]. Selectusa.commerce.gov (2010). The Pharmaceutical Industry in the United States | SelectUSA. [online] Retrieved from: http://selectusa.commerce.gov/industry-snapshots/pharmaceutical-industry-united-states [Accessed: 21 Jul 2013]. Thebestcolleges.org (2013). Top 10 Online Masters in Counseling Degree Programs of 2013. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.thebestcolleges.org/top-online-masters-in-counseling/ [Accessed: 22 Jul 2013]. 1. Specific Audience for this report by name(s): Geraldine Schliermacher and the consultants at Career Consultants Incorporated. 2. Purpose for the report based on the scenario: To prepare a formal report that provides basic information about healthcare consultant career field to assist other consultants who will be working as career advisors. 3. Career field to be researched: Health Care Consultant 4. Sources BusinessDictionary.com (n.d.). What is career? definition and meaning. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/career.html [Accessed: 23 Jul 2013].  Careerpath.com (2011). Top health care careers for your personality type | CareerPath.com. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.careerpath.com/career-advice/top-health-care-careers-for-your-personality-type/ [Accessed: 22 Jul 2013].  Education-portal.com (2008). Pharmacist: Educational Requirements and Career Summary. [online] Retrieved from: http://education-portal.com/articles/Pharmacist_Educational_Requirements_and_Career_Summary.html [Accessed: 22 Jul 2013]. pubmeddev (n.d.). Occupational health and safety information... [Occup Med. 1997 Jan-Mar] - PubMed - NCBI. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9153063 [Accessed: 22 Jul 2013]. 5. Information to be provided to Fellow Consultants Definition of career The progression and action taken by a person in his or her lifetime in his or her occupation can be treated as career. Career always comprised of employment held, acquired title, accomplishment over a longer period of time (BusinessDictionary.com, n.d.). Education requirements To become a pharmacist one should have at least two years of undergraduate program to be followed by four years of pharmacy schooling. It is mandatory for the Pharmacists to get license to stay in the profession. Under the changed scenario, pharmacists should have Doctor of Pharmacy degree which takes four years to complete (Education-portal.com, 2008). Occupation information It outlines health and safety management system which refers to working condition in a pharmaceutical company inclusive of laboratory, manufacturing and sales. It revolves around flow of information and integration that enables to address physical, biological, and chemical hazards (pubmeddev, n.d.). Personality types We have witnessed exodus of workers in a mass scale during the last four years due to recession. Although other industries except health care industry lay off workers, control expense and ban on fresh recruitment/hiring whereas health care industry shows industry wide growth. In accordance with Bureau of Labor Statistics, cited industry added in its feather 306,000 jobs during August 2011 to August 2012 which indicates no signs of downward trend. The industry stalwarts predict fastest-growing jobs in the days ahead in the health care industry (Careerpath.com, 2011). Placement opportunities The United States of America is the major market player of the world health care industry. This represents a significant portion of the US economy. It is expected that in 2010 American health care industry will be able to generate 1.75 trillion dollars as its revenues and employ more than 14 million people which is 9 % of workforce. According to bureau of statistics, the industry will create 3.2 million jobs till 2018. Similarly Jobs in domestic healthcare services and diagnostic laboratories are expected to grow at a fastest pace say up to 40 percent during the next decade. Resources Appendices Q. What schools offer the program you are discussing?  Identify the colleges together with links to their home page. Answer: There are number of pharmaceutical institutions, which are offering pharmacy program to the young aspirants that would be pharmacists in future. Details of the institutions are as follows: Pharmacy Schools In Different States Of The United States Of America Alabama Auburn University Stamford University  Arizona  Midwestern University  University of Arizona, College of Pharmacy  Arkansas  Univ. of Arkansas  College of Pharmacy  California  University of California  School of Pharmacy University of the Pacific, School of Pharmacy University of Southern California Western University of Health Sciences Where the Consultants might be advised to find further information?  Professional associations, perhaps?  Identify the group and offer links to their websites. Answer: Information with regard to professional associations in the United States of America can be had from the following link by the consultants: 1) American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy 2) American Pharmacists Association 3) American Society for Pharmacy Law 4) American Society of Consultant Pharmacists Foundation 5) American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP) 6) American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 7) Professional Compounding Centers of America Read More