Overview

Alma, 35, is considering going back to school for a new career. Although she really enjoys working with people and is interested in healthcare, she is not sure she wants to commit to a lengthy program until her children are older and she has some concerns about being involved in direct patient care. In addition to her education, Alma already works full time and is raising her family. These facts are making her consider options aside from traditional medical careers in order to find a career that suits her needs and fulfills her desire to help others. Alma has an appointment with a career counselor to take some aptitude tests and discuss careers in public health that do not involve direct patient care. She hopes to find a program close to home where she can enroll in evening and weekend classes.

Alma is interested in learning more about the administrative side of medicine. She’ll speak to her career counselor about the differences between healthcare information technology and healthcare management and between medical billing and coding programs at her college. Different colleges will offer different programs that support medical care, such as medical billing and coding, health information technology and management, and patient advocacy. A career counselor can help Alma to decide which college program is best for her. Alma can learn prerequisites for each program, the coursework required, and the career possibilities during her appointment.

In this chapter, we will discuss these medically-related careers that indirectly affect patients but don’t require a clinical degree. We will look at ways in which you can support patients, doctors and nurses through a job in healthcare administration. We will explore the fields of medical billing and coding, healthcare information technology and management, and patient advocacy. In each field, we will examine the tasks involved, education required and professional possibilities.

Attributions

1. Chapter opening image: 30478819 by Marco Verch is released under CC BY 2.0