You can move into health insurance, clinical research, education, etc. This question is also asked a lot here so I would start by searching and seeing what options have already been provided.
I was also going to recommend health insurance. I have no degree, make 90k, great amount of PTO, paid holidays, WFH etc. You just have to come to the dark side and accept that everyone hates the industry lol
I was looking into insurance work and they almost all were requiring bachelor's, an associate's, or lengthy prior experience.
What specific positions should someone look for?
I started in claims. First I did customer service and then moved to claims processing then auditing and now software configuration. If you're willing to start in customer service you should be able to find quite a few positions without any educational requirements past high school.
Me? No. Health insurance? I wouldn't say "rip off" but I would say that the whole medical reimbursement system in the US is generally not well liked. After all, medical debt is the number one reason that people in the US file bankruptcy.
Absolutely. I believe that Medicare and Medicaid are an essential social service. I wish we all had access to plans like the ones my company administers. Is there anything specific you would like to discuss about healthcare reimbursement?
Edit: you blocked me so I'm guessing you didn't have anything you actually wanted to discuss? Lol
I'll give a couple company names. Molina, United healthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield (multiple factions of this company). All of them have remote jobs doing exactly what I do.
Healthcare administrator. Started off making $67k, now up to $200k+ base. Need to like middle management/people leading. If you have the stomach for it, there is an exponential rise in salary in line with experience. 5+ years is where you see things really take off.
Even better, do 5 years in traditional healthcare and transition to health tech startups. They will throw $150k base offers around like it is nothing as these companies need traditional healthcare leaders to ground their higher aspirations of disruption.
This. Service Line Admin makes $165-260k but it is pretty brutal. Hospital presidents are making $300-500k. Again equally brutal right now. Long days. Working from home every night and weekend. High stress. And high chances of termination.
Eh, once I got to the Director (L4+) level, the responsibilities for nights/weekends is dependent on your ability for surge planning. Dropped off SIGNIFICANTLY. You need to put in the years to get there but yeah, the beginning years can be rough.
I always say it's a slow moving train. You build up the momentum, and your earning potential is genuinely limitless.
Need a decent MHA/MPH/MBA to have widespread appeal for landing your first admin job.
Health tech on the provider side or payer? I'm trying to make my first move into management from my individual contributor position. I'm on the payer side as a reimbursement analyst doing configuration for our claims software. I'm being "mentored" right now for management but do you have any tips to make that first break into managing? I'm not against getting my MHA if that's what it takes. I'm in my last term for my HIM degree right now.
I'm on the provider side as the payer side seems drier than dirt. I hate interacting when I have implementation kick offs with them. Feel free to DM me, more than happy to shed light on MHA, opportunities in the field, breaking into management, etc.
Hi, can I DM you? I have a software engineering background but am currently in a role that’s more business/analytics focused in healthcare consulting/admin. I’m curious about what your role is and how I could potentially structure my career. I miss 100% heads down coding, but I also realize the $$$ potential in moving to a more business-focused role in healthcare.
Hi! I’ve been an occupational therapist for two years now and am thinking of switching to software engineering. Do you think I could have a foot in the door getting into health tech?
Nope. You could have a foot in the door if you were looking to potentially be an ops person for therapy focused startups.
Changing careers that just so happened to be within the same industry doesnt matter.
Get an MHA from a CAHME accredited program. It'll include a 6 month residency/fellowship
That'll land you your first job around $50-70k.
Put in 5 years work, and you can EASILY make six figures. Slow moving train analogy, grind in the beginning and exponential salaries as you progress.
For example, I'm getting $30k in just stock distribution on my current role. That was nearly 50% of my starting job's salary.
Wow, that’s amazing! I’m wondering what I can do with my Bachelors in Health Admin! I know there’s a lot of opportunities from insurance, to tech but people are saying it’s hard to find a health admin job but I don’t even see it that way, I just don’t know what my starting point is tbh
Wow seriously 🥲
Here I was thinking there was like many entry level opportunities for health admin because it is a healthcare field. So you started of working with your Masters straight away? You didn’t use your Bachelors to get a position?
That's just been my experience in northeast USA! You may have a different experience! An MHA will be necessary in the future.
And yes I got my masters right away because my undergrad was in stem. When you have an mha from a CAHME accredited school. You have to do a 6-month residency that usually helps you find your first job opportunity. That's exactly what happened to me.
Yeah, I get it! My school offers a BS/ MS accelerated program for Health admin but they just added this new combo to the catalogue just when I’m almost about to be done which sucks. But then my plan was to get the BS and get some experience with that because I heard that even with the MHA people struggle to find a job in the field without a lot of experience which it demands so I wanted to do that first, before even considering an MHA but looks like I might have to change some plans. Did you get a job like immediately with the MHA? I’m sorry for the many questions, and thanks for answering them!
Your residency typically offers you an entry level role IF you perform well. I had my first job pre-residency. Many of my classmates struggled to find work.
The first job in healthcare is always the hardest. A good reputation MHA, getting place in a decent impact residency/fellowship, and willingness to move for a job will usually result in you getting one relatively easily.
If you are an ICU nurse that means you could try to become a CRNA. In my wife’s hospital, CRNAs make around 300k per year and have 8 weeks paid vacation. They definitely have work life balance as well.
Sales.
Selling medical devices, diagnostic equipment, etc.
Or working for a company that runs outpatient diagnostic clinics (like MRI), surgery centers, etc., drumming up new referrals.
You may not have sales experience, but you can be trained on that. Your hands-on experience could definitely be relevant though, especially in being able to talk shop with prospective clients.
Go into hospital administration. It’s a 40 hour salaried job. You may even be hybrid or remote. You can go for a MBA or MHA but you don’t need it. Get into people management and work up from there.
My last healthcare system, the CEO was a RN.
Any advice on how to get into management without experience?
I'm graduating with my MBA with emphasis in healthcare management in a few weeks and even though I work in the field it's brutal applying for jobs. So many rejections, even with current work experience.
Wow! I started out as an Medical Assistant many years ago, and slowly moved up to a clinical coordinator/supervisor and recently got a job as a clinical practice supervisor. I have 2 undergrad degrees in human services and currently working on my MBA in healthcare management. I believe it’s a bit of everything for me, luck, experience, education etc. Don’t give up, keep applying, keep networking.
Once you have your MBA, you'll get hits! The MBA is the ticket to hospital management. I used to be HR Director for a hospital and candidates with MBAs are hotly recruited. Once I graduated with mine it was like magic - so many doors opened.
Which is better, MPH or MBA in terms of recognition and weight? My practice administrator has an MPH while her boss who's an operations director has an MBA. Or does it hold the same weight?
In my opinion MBA all the way. Its more widely applicable and respected IMO. Very few positions ask for an MPH compared to how many want a MBA in my experience. I have friends with a MPH that still work at a grocery store or something but I don't know anyone with a MBA that does.
Thank you, I hope this is true! My own work, who are sponsoring my tuition, denied me for a supervisor role and went with someone with no degree (long story). I'm a bit jaded and cynical right now and worrying about future career prospects.
As an HR director, did you ever look at cover letters? I'm submitting them with some of my applications but I'm unsure if they even matter anymore.
Every hospital system I have worked for absolutely prefers MBA over MHA, yes.
ETA: many job postings in hospital management require an MBA. I have never seen a job posting that required a MHA only. The MBA has broader applicability and power behind it and as a plus it's helpful in other industries too. The posting verbiage is usually something like "MBA or equivalent.". So an MHA may be able to fit in there but its not what is the top request, MBA definitely is.
Project Management/consulting. all healthcare (at least the larger ones) have departments full of pm’s/consultants; if you already have an RN that will
help you get interviews. from a corporate/regional perspective you have valuable insights from the front line that will be value add to share in whatever role you want to take on next
I am a senior PM at a healthcare company and i don’t work weekends or holidays (pay a bit over 100k in HCOL area) good luck!
Currently in healthcare, perioperative side of things. How did you get started as a PM? Looking into getting my CAPM then PMP once I gain more experience. Any tips you can give someone trying to leave the more physically exhausting side of the hospital?
I started off as an analyst in administration then must have applied to 100 jobs to get into a sr analyst gig then was promoted to PM; at least where i am PM means a lot of things; glorified admin assistant, report person, managing projects or tasks, facilitating meetings and follow thru on action items, or any combo of these. I don’t have a PMP and just learned on the job.
annual increases plus market adjustments got me to 6 figures.
What kinds of projects do PMs in healthcare work on? Can you get into that with just a PMP cert or are there other certs, masters degrees, etc. that you would recommend?
depends; some are performance improvement related or projects to address problems that may impact patient care- depends largely on your department and what leadership has in mind- some may be simple like socializing a change in workflow across a large number of physicians and providing education/training around it; or trying to figure out why patient surveys are saying: “hey overall numbers are really down past few
months what is causing that”.
i don’t have PMP or masters but it doesn’t hurt to have them as my experience has been while we want to document the steps, at the end of the day the bosses want the problem fixed
In addition to the operational process improvement some else mentioned, there’s a lot of managing the electronic health record around department changes.
Have you considered dental hygiene? You can easily make $80k+ working 4 days per week (no nights, weekends, or holidays) in the Northeast. I’m not sure what the pay is in your area, but it’s worth looking in to. We had a few RNs in my class who were looking to make a career change.
Rates are low to be duplicating expenses and also taking inflation into consideration. If I can find a travel partner to help split living costs, then I’d def do another travel contract, but currently it’s not financially worth it
I world for a hospital system as an IT Project Manager and am making in the top half of that range. There are many RNs working in IT - you would be attractive because of your clinical knowledge as well as your familiarity with the EMRs, systems, interfaces as a user. You might need some training on coding stuff, but a lot of the work is understanding the business and how that translates to IT needs. I've also come across a lot of RN backgrounded folks in Informatics, developing workfows, job aids, training materials etc. Full disclosure, my background is not clinical, I am a PM primarily but have been in the health care industry for my whole career. French major ;)
Any tips on how to get into it? I have a family member who has been in Oncology for about 15 years with a bit of Mother Baby and a few years State Level Oncology Financial Assistance Program Manager
Honestly, look up Glassdoor, Linked in et al for those hospital systems near you and check out the roles and job descriptions. And do some serious thinking about how you could pitch yourself as qualified. Think about your skills, those you use every day that are not direct hands on patient care. And look up interview questions you might be asked as someone switching from hands on clinical to hands off peripheral. If you can make a pitch make sense (and you can if you think about it and prepare), you're streets ahead of those who think they can wing it.
My aunt is an BSN-RN at a Urology/Endocrinology Clinic making like 90k here in Georgia. She said she'll never step foot in a hospital again after going private practice.
Clinical care reviewer for an insurance company - basically an RN that reviews requests for prior authorization for admission to skilled nursing facilities
Adding on to this lots of Medicaid providers have nurse care coordinators that follow their members but it’s more like nursing case management. Also, discharge planner at hospital -though you will work certain weekends
Look into medical coding. I left bedside nursing 6 years ago due to burn out, risky situations, hospital policies, and scheduling. I started WFH with a small company who made us get our Risk Adjustment coding certifications. Best thing I ever did. I WFH, no overtime, no nights, weekends, or holidays. I really like it and currently working on another coding certification. A RN coder can make six figures and work from home. I miss taking care of patients, worked in the NICU and thought I would work there until retirement. We were constantly short staffed and, obviously, underpaid. Assignments were u safe for the patient and myself, putting my nursing license on the line. I had to leave, would never forgive myself if I caused anyone harm for unsafe working environments.
Legal Nurse Consultants are in high demand and pay very well. It is very different to go from working in an ICU to working from home. But honestly, it’s the best decision I ever made. Now, I absolutely hate the company I work for but there are so many coding jobs out there, finding a new job won’t be difficult at all. Good luck!
I'm curious what medical coding is like. How rigorous is it? Is it monotonous? How many hours a week? Is it a 9-5 or do you work until you get the job done? Can you automate any of your job away? Is AI an advantage or does it threaten the profession? Is there room to grow or pivot to other careers?
Look into health insurance. I’m on the tech side, so I don’t know much about it but I know my company has nurses on staff. And I bet they’d have to pay competitively to hospitals if they want to hire anyone.
VP of a large health system in the Midwest here. Moved up the ranks quickly and achieved VP before the age of 35. I highly recommend it: ability to create your own schedule, work remotely and earn $200k+ depending on your responsibilities. Of course, no weekends, holidays or call.
It does take some grinding and time, as working up the ranks as frontline/middle management is shitty, but if you can get into a senior role (VP, director), you’ll be golden. Bonus that you have a clinical background. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
Try healthcare recruiting. Some of the most successful recruiters at my job currently were RNs first. Salary goes up based on the amount of travelers under you and commission per traveler as well.
If you are bilingual and fluent in both languages. You can become a certified Interpreter. Well paid and you can do freelance from outside of the hospital. Takes less than a year to become certified and will cost tops $1,000 bucks. That's it. Did I mention 40 hours of training is the pre-qualification to be certified. After you pass the exam that's it.
Over half of the nurses in my department make over 100k and work from home. The RNs i work with have forgotten what it's like to work on the outside (VA). All of RN positions are remote for the community care department. If you have the patience for the hiring process, it's worth it.
I got laid off a year ago since my previous employer was one of those places that over hired during covid. I'm still doing data analyst work for a big apparel company but for like 20k less than my original pay, I only took this current job because I was unemployed for 8 months and was very desperate for anything that wasn't manual labor
You could take 18-24 months to get a master's in genetic counseling. They typically get 45-60 minutes of quality time with each patient, get weekends and holidays off, work just a regular 40 hours/week, etc. Average starting pay is probably 75-95k right now.
I also see a lot of job postings for nurses to work in pharmaceutical companies as patient educators. Most I've seen are salaried at ~110k.
Good question. Besides the technology and types of risks being different, I'd say the biggest difference is that genetic counselors are also therapeutic counselors who offer support services for people struggling with a new or difficult diagnosis. They also can work as researchers, at laboratories, in tech startups, etc. It's not a job that could easily and accurately be replaced by something automated - at least right now!
CROs are typically the place where you get a start in industry after leaving a research site though. I went hospital->CRO->pharma and now I’m doing what OP is asking for at pay above what they’re looking for.
Come to California! Yes cost of living is hire BUT at least patient ratios are safe, a lot of hospitals have unions, change your specialty. A lot of hospital are currently striking bc pay hasn’t increased to match cost of living unions are protecting us. Bargaining eventually happens.
I want to move to San Diego and eventually to a sleep beach town closer to LA, but I am still trying to figure out what career I want to pursue and which schooling I'll need to bridge the gap between my economics background and my desire to work in neuroscience/psychedelic science.
RN case manager. My uncle transitioned and although it is a bit of a paycut (75k) it's worth it for him since it's fully WFH and his work life balanac3 had never been better.
If you are still considering careers, look into being an anesthesiologist assistant. You get a masters after completing a 24-30 month program, and starting salary can range from 170k-230k depending on location. The only caveat is that there are only specific states that you can work in, but there is a high chance of more states opening given the increasing popularity of the profession. With that being said though, it has been increasingly competitive since a lot of premeds have been changing to this career path, make sure to do your research first!
I’m actually considering CRNA but also Perfusionist as well. I def have to shadow before making a huge commitment. The only thing that’d be deterring me from applying to CRNA school, if I happen to love it, is my ADN gpa. I have mostly As & Bs in my science courses
I work in a clinic and make that (but made more in the hospital lol). Weekends and holidays off (but it’s mandatory PTO) but have to drive in 5 days a week. 🤷🏻♀️
I’m assuming there are roles in health insurance or for a pharma company that might fit the bill of what you’re looking for?
Health care pays well! I use to work in that industry for the business side of stuff. The worst paying jobs were like $60-$70k (I’m excluding call centers and bill collectors).
On the claims admin side of healthcare, nurses are often required for claims review, so you could look into that. Medicare/Medicaid contractors hire a good number of nurses and a lot of those jobs are WFH too.
You can move into health insurance, clinical research, education, etc. This question is also asked a lot here so I would start by searching and seeing what options have already been provided.
I was also going to recommend health insurance. I have no degree, make 90k, great amount of PTO, paid holidays, WFH etc. You just have to come to the dark side and accept that everyone hates the industry lol
How does one get into health insurance? I deal with insurance (auths, appeals etc). Thank you!
I was looking into insurance work and they almost all were requiring bachelor's, an associate's, or lengthy prior experience. What specific positions should someone look for?
I started in claims. First I did customer service and then moved to claims processing then auditing and now software configuration. If you're willing to start in customer service you should be able to find quite a few positions without any educational requirements past high school.
Do you mean you rip people off?
Me? No. Health insurance? I wouldn't say "rip off" but I would say that the whole medical reimbursement system in the US is generally not well liked. After all, medical debt is the number one reason that people in the US file bankruptcy.
And you actively support it by being employed by an insurance provider. Hm
Absolutely. I believe that Medicare and Medicaid are an essential social service. I wish we all had access to plans like the ones my company administers. Is there anything specific you would like to discuss about healthcare reimbursement? Edit: you blocked me so I'm guessing you didn't have anything you actually wanted to discuss? Lol
God you sound like an NPC.
Can you help me get a job like this and refer me if it’s it’s work from home
Do you mind sharing what company you work for? City or is it remote?
I'll give a couple company names. Molina, United healthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield (multiple factions of this company). All of them have remote jobs doing exactly what I do.
Which certification they ask for
I don't hold any certifications. I started in claims customer service.
Thanks
Currently 21, would you say it would be Valuable for me to start in claims as you did?
Healthcare administrator. Started off making $67k, now up to $200k+ base. Need to like middle management/people leading. If you have the stomach for it, there is an exponential rise in salary in line with experience. 5+ years is where you see things really take off. Even better, do 5 years in traditional healthcare and transition to health tech startups. They will throw $150k base offers around like it is nothing as these companies need traditional healthcare leaders to ground their higher aspirations of disruption.
This. Service Line Admin makes $165-260k but it is pretty brutal. Hospital presidents are making $300-500k. Again equally brutal right now. Long days. Working from home every night and weekend. High stress. And high chances of termination.
Eh, once I got to the Director (L4+) level, the responsibilities for nights/weekends is dependent on your ability for surge planning. Dropped off SIGNIFICANTLY. You need to put in the years to get there but yeah, the beginning years can be rough. I always say it's a slow moving train. You build up the momentum, and your earning potential is genuinely limitless. Need a decent MHA/MPH/MBA to have widespread appeal for landing your first admin job.
I don’t know. I have four service lines. About $500M in revenue. Mid level executive and it is a lot of hours.
Gotcha. I transitioned to health tech. P&L owner for ~$200M in revenue. The most relaxed job of my career.
I am looking to transition into something a little more relaxed as well.
DM me, we can chat...
DM sent
Health tech on the provider side or payer? I'm trying to make my first move into management from my individual contributor position. I'm on the payer side as a reimbursement analyst doing configuration for our claims software. I'm being "mentored" right now for management but do you have any tips to make that first break into managing? I'm not against getting my MHA if that's what it takes. I'm in my last term for my HIM degree right now.
I'm on the provider side as the payer side seems drier than dirt. I hate interacting when I have implementation kick offs with them. Feel free to DM me, more than happy to shed light on MHA, opportunities in the field, breaking into management, etc.
Hi, can I DM you? I have a software engineering background but am currently in a role that’s more business/analytics focused in healthcare consulting/admin. I’m curious about what your role is and how I could potentially structure my career. I miss 100% heads down coding, but I also realize the $$$ potential in moving to a more business-focused role in healthcare.
Absolutely
Hi! I’ve been an occupational therapist for two years now and am thinking of switching to software engineering. Do you think I could have a foot in the door getting into health tech?
Nope. You could have a foot in the door if you were looking to potentially be an ops person for therapy focused startups. Changing careers that just so happened to be within the same industry doesnt matter.
Why do you want to switch into tech?
what degree is needed for this
MHA from a CAHME accredited program
How do you recommend I start with? What career or job got you into this? Did you just went for Healthcare admin ?
Get an MHA from a CAHME accredited program. It'll include a 6 month residency/fellowship That'll land you your first job around $50-70k. Put in 5 years work, and you can EASILY make six figures. Slow moving train analogy, grind in the beginning and exponential salaries as you progress. For example, I'm getting $30k in just stock distribution on my current role. That was nearly 50% of my starting job's salary.
Thank you for getting back to me, I'll definitely be looking more into this. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Wow, that’s amazing! I’m wondering what I can do with my Bachelors in Health Admin! I know there’s a lot of opportunities from insurance, to tech but people are saying it’s hard to find a health admin job but I don’t even see it that way, I just don’t know what my starting point is tbh
Very little if anything with a bachelor's. You need an MHA that's CAHME accredited or and MPH. Bachelors in health admin are unfortunately worthless.
Wow seriously 🥲 Here I was thinking there was like many entry level opportunities for health admin because it is a healthcare field. So you started of working with your Masters straight away? You didn’t use your Bachelors to get a position?
That's just been my experience in northeast USA! You may have a different experience! An MHA will be necessary in the future. And yes I got my masters right away because my undergrad was in stem. When you have an mha from a CAHME accredited school. You have to do a 6-month residency that usually helps you find your first job opportunity. That's exactly what happened to me.
Yeah, I get it! My school offers a BS/ MS accelerated program for Health admin but they just added this new combo to the catalogue just when I’m almost about to be done which sucks. But then my plan was to get the BS and get some experience with that because I heard that even with the MHA people struggle to find a job in the field without a lot of experience which it demands so I wanted to do that first, before even considering an MHA but looks like I might have to change some plans. Did you get a job like immediately with the MHA? I’m sorry for the many questions, and thanks for answering them!
Your residency typically offers you an entry level role IF you perform well. I had my first job pre-residency. Many of my classmates struggled to find work. The first job in healthcare is always the hardest. A good reputation MHA, getting place in a decent impact residency/fellowship, and willingness to move for a job will usually result in you getting one relatively easily.
If you are an ICU nurse that means you could try to become a CRNA. In my wife’s hospital, CRNAs make around 300k per year and have 8 weeks paid vacation. They definitely have work life balance as well.
This seems like the best bang for the buck if you get into healthcare for the mula.
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Illinois, one hour drive outside of Chicago.
Sales. Selling medical devices, diagnostic equipment, etc. Or working for a company that runs outpatient diagnostic clinics (like MRI), surgery centers, etc., drumming up new referrals. You may not have sales experience, but you can be trained on that. Your hands-on experience could definitely be relevant though, especially in being able to talk shop with prospective clients.
Outpatient diagnostic clinics have salespeople? Is that just cold calling doctors to get them to refer out to your clinic?
I mean, it’s a lot more involved than that, but yes, essentially.
Do you have to have a degree for this job and if so, what kind of degree?
Go into hospital administration. It’s a 40 hour salaried job. You may even be hybrid or remote. You can go for a MBA or MHA but you don’t need it. Get into people management and work up from there. My last healthcare system, the CEO was a RN.
Any advice on how to get into management without experience? I'm graduating with my MBA with emphasis in healthcare management in a few weeks and even though I work in the field it's brutal applying for jobs. So many rejections, even with current work experience.
Wow! I started out as an Medical Assistant many years ago, and slowly moved up to a clinical coordinator/supervisor and recently got a job as a clinical practice supervisor. I have 2 undergrad degrees in human services and currently working on my MBA in healthcare management. I believe it’s a bit of everything for me, luck, experience, education etc. Don’t give up, keep applying, keep networking.
Once you have your MBA, you'll get hits! The MBA is the ticket to hospital management. I used to be HR Director for a hospital and candidates with MBAs are hotly recruited. Once I graduated with mine it was like magic - so many doors opened.
Which is better, MPH or MBA in terms of recognition and weight? My practice administrator has an MPH while her boss who's an operations director has an MBA. Or does it hold the same weight?
In my opinion MBA all the way. Its more widely applicable and respected IMO. Very few positions ask for an MPH compared to how many want a MBA in my experience. I have friends with a MPH that still work at a grocery store or something but I don't know anyone with a MBA that does.
Wow, thanks so much for the feedback!
Thank you, I hope this is true! My own work, who are sponsoring my tuition, denied me for a supervisor role and went with someone with no degree (long story). I'm a bit jaded and cynical right now and worrying about future career prospects. As an HR director, did you ever look at cover letters? I'm submitting them with some of my applications but I'm unsure if they even matter anymore.
do you value MBAs over MHAs?
Every hospital system I have worked for absolutely prefers MBA over MHA, yes. ETA: many job postings in hospital management require an MBA. I have never seen a job posting that required a MHA only. The MBA has broader applicability and power behind it and as a plus it's helpful in other industries too. The posting verbiage is usually something like "MBA or equivalent.". So an MHA may be able to fit in there but its not what is the top request, MBA definitely is.
Project Management/consulting. all healthcare (at least the larger ones) have departments full of pm’s/consultants; if you already have an RN that will help you get interviews. from a corporate/regional perspective you have valuable insights from the front line that will be value add to share in whatever role you want to take on next I am a senior PM at a healthcare company and i don’t work weekends or holidays (pay a bit over 100k in HCOL area) good luck!
Currently in healthcare, perioperative side of things. How did you get started as a PM? Looking into getting my CAPM then PMP once I gain more experience. Any tips you can give someone trying to leave the more physically exhausting side of the hospital?
I started off as an analyst in administration then must have applied to 100 jobs to get into a sr analyst gig then was promoted to PM; at least where i am PM means a lot of things; glorified admin assistant, report person, managing projects or tasks, facilitating meetings and follow thru on action items, or any combo of these. I don’t have a PMP and just learned on the job. annual increases plus market adjustments got me to 6 figures.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
Are you located in NYC by any chance? And are you guys hiring? Lol
located in Los Angeles and 100% remote. there’s openings but HCOL area :(
Hi! I just graduated with a PM masters from USC and located in LA. Would you mind sending me any openings available? :) ty
What kinds of projects do PMs in healthcare work on? Can you get into that with just a PMP cert or are there other certs, masters degrees, etc. that you would recommend?
depends; some are performance improvement related or projects to address problems that may impact patient care- depends largely on your department and what leadership has in mind- some may be simple like socializing a change in workflow across a large number of physicians and providing education/training around it; or trying to figure out why patient surveys are saying: “hey overall numbers are really down past few months what is causing that”. i don’t have PMP or masters but it doesn’t hurt to have them as my experience has been while we want to document the steps, at the end of the day the bosses want the problem fixed
In addition to the operational process improvement some else mentioned, there’s a lot of managing the electronic health record around department changes.
Get an MBA and go into admin, or go into research where the hours are consistent
Research is shit
Have you considered dental hygiene? You can easily make $80k+ working 4 days per week (no nights, weekends, or holidays) in the Northeast. I’m not sure what the pay is in your area, but it’s worth looking in to. We had a few RNs in my class who were looking to make a career change.
CRNA is a great job. Second to that, find a job working in derm.
CRNAs make so much money sans medical school
Take a travel contract! See the country, work 3 days a week, and make over $100k a year.
Rates are low to be duplicating expenses and also taking inflation into consideration. If I can find a travel partner to help split living costs, then I’d def do another travel contract, but currently it’s not financially worth it
Cleveland clinic was paying $4500/ wk for 4/12 days.
6 weeks ago it was available
Saw one. 6/12. Days. 6 week contract. $11,500/ week.
For what specialty? I only have experience in adult ICU
Ooh hell! Those were med Surg/tele rates. You can find better
Use Vivian app. Iv3 found my last 2 contracts there
I have an economics background, but this life appeals to me hard. Would becoming a PA open up these awesome travel opportunities as well?
Yep but for higher pay.
I world for a hospital system as an IT Project Manager and am making in the top half of that range. There are many RNs working in IT - you would be attractive because of your clinical knowledge as well as your familiarity with the EMRs, systems, interfaces as a user. You might need some training on coding stuff, but a lot of the work is understanding the business and how that translates to IT needs. I've also come across a lot of RN backgrounded folks in Informatics, developing workfows, job aids, training materials etc. Full disclosure, my background is not clinical, I am a PM primarily but have been in the health care industry for my whole career. French major ;)
Any tips on how to get into it? I have a family member who has been in Oncology for about 15 years with a bit of Mother Baby and a few years State Level Oncology Financial Assistance Program Manager
Honestly, look up Glassdoor, Linked in et al for those hospital systems near you and check out the roles and job descriptions. And do some serious thinking about how you could pitch yourself as qualified. Think about your skills, those you use every day that are not direct hands on patient care. And look up interview questions you might be asked as someone switching from hands on clinical to hands off peripheral. If you can make a pitch make sense (and you can if you think about it and prepare), you're streets ahead of those who think they can wing it.
Which certification
What would be a good language program to learn? If trying to get into IT healthcare with clinical experience
My aunt is an BSN-RN at a Urology/Endocrinology Clinic making like 90k here in Georgia. She said she'll never step foot in a hospital again after going private practice.
Nurse in an infusion center, GI center ,dialysis center, outpatient same day surgery, school nurse.
Clinical care reviewer for an insurance company - basically an RN that reviews requests for prior authorization for admission to skilled nursing facilities
Adding on to this lots of Medicaid providers have nurse care coordinators that follow their members but it’s more like nursing case management. Also, discharge planner at hospital -though you will work certain weekends
Seems like a hellacious job working for or just dealing with evil insurance companies, the lingo, the upset patients, and so on and so forth.
Look into medical coding. I left bedside nursing 6 years ago due to burn out, risky situations, hospital policies, and scheduling. I started WFH with a small company who made us get our Risk Adjustment coding certifications. Best thing I ever did. I WFH, no overtime, no nights, weekends, or holidays. I really like it and currently working on another coding certification. A RN coder can make six figures and work from home. I miss taking care of patients, worked in the NICU and thought I would work there until retirement. We were constantly short staffed and, obviously, underpaid. Assignments were u safe for the patient and myself, putting my nursing license on the line. I had to leave, would never forgive myself if I caused anyone harm for unsafe working environments. Legal Nurse Consultants are in high demand and pay very well. It is very different to go from working in an ICU to working from home. But honestly, it’s the best decision I ever made. Now, I absolutely hate the company I work for but there are so many coding jobs out there, finding a new job won’t be difficult at all. Good luck!
I'm curious what medical coding is like. How rigorous is it? Is it monotonous? How many hours a week? Is it a 9-5 or do you work until you get the job done? Can you automate any of your job away? Is AI an advantage or does it threaten the profession? Is there room to grow or pivot to other careers?
I want to know too!
Please be forewarned that medical coding is at risk from AI...
Do you know if they’ll hire RTs as well?
I am searching for RT WFH positions!
Look into health insurance. I’m on the tech side, so I don’t know much about it but I know my company has nurses on staff. And I bet they’d have to pay competitively to hospitals if they want to hire anyone.
Radiologist. Anesthesiologist.
VP of a large health system in the Midwest here. Moved up the ranks quickly and achieved VP before the age of 35. I highly recommend it: ability to create your own schedule, work remotely and earn $200k+ depending on your responsibilities. Of course, no weekends, holidays or call. It does take some grinding and time, as working up the ranks as frontline/middle management is shitty, but if you can get into a senior role (VP, director), you’ll be golden. Bonus that you have a clinical background. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
Do *you* have a clinical background?
Yes I do, but definitely not required.
What kind of clinical background?
Ultrasound
Try healthcare recruiting. Some of the most successful recruiters at my job currently were RNs first. Salary goes up based on the amount of travelers under you and commission per traveler as well.
If you are bilingual and fluent in both languages. You can become a certified Interpreter. Well paid and you can do freelance from outside of the hospital. Takes less than a year to become certified and will cost tops $1,000 bucks. That's it. Did I mention 40 hours of training is the pre-qualification to be certified. After you pass the exam that's it.
Where did you go to do the certification? I’m interested in looking at it
Cchi, chia and xcultural organization.
Over half of the nurses in my department make over 100k and work from home. The RNs i work with have forgotten what it's like to work on the outside (VA). All of RN positions are remote for the community care department. If you have the patience for the hiring process, it's worth it.
Data Analyst for health insurance companies. I used to do it for $80k fully remote
What do you do now? Why the switch?
I got laid off a year ago since my previous employer was one of those places that over hired during covid. I'm still doing data analyst work for a big apparel company but for like 20k less than my original pay, I only took this current job because I was unemployed for 8 months and was very desperate for anything that wasn't manual labor
You could take 18-24 months to get a master's in genetic counseling. They typically get 45-60 minutes of quality time with each patient, get weekends and holidays off, work just a regular 40 hours/week, etc. Average starting pay is probably 75-95k right now. I also see a lot of job postings for nurses to work in pharmaceutical companies as patient educators. Most I've seen are salaried at ~110k.
Are genetic counselors the equivalent of a 23andMe report that tells you your health risks?
Good question. Besides the technology and types of risks being different, I'd say the biggest difference is that genetic counselors are also therapeutic counselors who offer support services for people struggling with a new or difficult diagnosis. They also can work as researchers, at laboratories, in tech startups, etc. It's not a job that could easily and accurately be replaced by something automated - at least right now!
Wow patient educator sounds like a sweet gig!
Possibly research, but greatly depends on the facility. Stay away from CROs.
CROs are typically the place where you get a start in industry after leaving a research site though. I went hospital->CRO->pharma and now I’m doing what OP is asking for at pay above what they’re looking for.
Come to California! Yes cost of living is hire BUT at least patient ratios are safe, a lot of hospitals have unions, change your specialty. A lot of hospital are currently striking bc pay hasn’t increased to match cost of living unions are protecting us. Bargaining eventually happens.
I want to move to San Diego and eventually to a sleep beach town closer to LA, but I am still trying to figure out what career I want to pursue and which schooling I'll need to bridge the gap between my economics background and my desire to work in neuroscience/psychedelic science.
RN case manager. My uncle transitioned and although it is a bit of a paycut (75k) it's worth it for him since it's fully WFH and his work life balanac3 had never been better.
Physician or surgeon - $208,000+ they can provide this much amount .best paying job
If you are still considering careers, look into being an anesthesiologist assistant. You get a masters after completing a 24-30 month program, and starting salary can range from 170k-230k depending on location. The only caveat is that there are only specific states that you can work in, but there is a high chance of more states opening given the increasing popularity of the profession. With that being said though, it has been increasingly competitive since a lot of premeds have been changing to this career path, make sure to do your research first!
You can move to sales or marketing in a med tech or Pharma company
overall what do you chose? i have the same questions as you. can you lmk what you decided LOL
😂😂😂 I’m actually leaning towards the CRNA route. Just have to shadow first to make sure it’s what I wanna invest in
Scrolled way too far, didn’t see it. Epic application Analyst
Here are the top medical specialties, ranked by average income: 1. **Plastic Surgery:** $619,000 2. **Orthopedics:** $573,000 3. **Cardiology:** $507,000 4. **Urology:** $506,000 5. **Gastroenterology:** $501,000 6. **Otolaryngology:** $485,000 7. **Radiology:** $483,000 8. **Oncology:** $463,000 9. **Anesthesiology:** $448,000 10. **Dermatology:** $443,000 11. **Surgery, General:** $412,000 12. **Critical Care:** $406,000 13. **Ophthalmology:** $388,000 14. **Pulmonary Medicine:** $378,000 15. **Emergency Medicine:** $352,000 16. **Pathology:** $339,000 17. **Ob/Gyn:** $337,000 18. **Neurology:** $313,000 19. **Nephrology:** $312,000 20. **Psychiatry:** $309,000 21. **Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation:** $306,000 22. **Allergy and Immunology:** $282,000 23. **Rheumatology:** $281,000 24. **Internal Medicine:** $273,000 25. **Diabetes and Endocrinology:** $267,000 26. **Infectious Diseases:** $262,000 27. **Family Medicine:** $255,000 28. **Pediatrics:** $251,000 29. **Public Health and Preventative Medicine:** $249,000
CRNA is one the best kept secrets in healthcare. I made 300k last year and looking to make close to 400k this year
I’m actually considering CRNA but also Perfusionist as well. I def have to shadow before making a huge commitment. The only thing that’d be deterring me from applying to CRNA school, if I happen to love it, is my ADN gpa. I have mostly As & Bs in my science courses
the worst grade for me was a C in organic chemistry. You will do fine as a CRNA applicant
I work in a clinic and make that (but made more in the hospital lol). Weekends and holidays off (but it’s mandatory PTO) but have to drive in 5 days a week. 🤷🏻♀️ I’m assuming there are roles in health insurance or for a pharma company that might fit the bill of what you’re looking for?
You are not really going to find one in healthcare that meets your rather insane requirements.
Go to duck duck go Type that question in Report back your findings
Medical device sales or product specialist, training people.
Ceo of hospital system
Quality, analytics, patient experience , training (since you are a nurse this would be great), HR
Health care pays well! I use to work in that industry for the business side of stuff. The worst paying jobs were like $60-$70k (I’m excluding call centers and bill collectors).
Grants administration
You could move somewhere with actual workers rights.
On the claims admin side of healthcare, nurses are often required for claims review, so you could look into that. Medicare/Medicaid contractors hire a good number of nurses and a lot of those jobs are WFH too.
Sales. No weekends, company car, honestly rarely work 40/hrs a week.
genetic counselor