Surprising Roles in Healthcare You Didn’t Know About

Working in healthcare is a dream for many, but only when it comes to the conventional and appreciated role of a doctor or nurse. However, it is a known fact that hospitals are large organizations that require a host of different types of professionals for their smooth functioning. The healthcare industry relies on both clinical and non-clinical services with different roles and contributions each.

Medical coders, sexologists, flight nurses… these are all roles in healthcare that are seldom discussed and yet indispensable. In this article, we will be exploring some such lesser-known and even surprising profiles in the healthcare industry we are sure you did not know about.

Here are 5 Roles in Healthcare that will Surprise You

Medical Coding

Accurate medical documentation is critical to not just the revenue cycle process in the healthcare industry for validating claims, but also as a strong backbone for scaling up services in the future. This is where medical coding companies step into the picture.

Medical coding refers to the process of standardizing diagnostic procedures, medical services as well as equipment records into universal alphanumeric codes, compliant with state and federal regulations. Such encoding provides multiple benefits to the healthcare organization’s financial health.

While a few hospitals hire medical coders as part of their organization itself, most of them opt for services from reputed medical coding companies with a pool of experienced experts, as well as increase security measures in place. Medical coders may not be heard of a lot but are certainly integral to the healthcare industry because of their role in ensuring seamless information transfer, uninterrupted revenue cycle flows and improved service quality.

Nuclear Pharmacy

Breaking away from conventional pharmaceutical jobs, Nuclear Pharmacy is a specialty dealing in the preparation of drugs involving radioactive materials for use in nuclear medicine procedures. Simply put, a nuclear pharmacist compounds and dispenses in radioactive materials for use in nuclear medicine procedures.

Interestingly, radionuclides are often used in the treatment of illnesses affecting the heart, lungs, bones, and brain, besides cancer. Radioactive drugs are also used to identify those illnesses when conventional medical diagnosing techniques have failed to deliver an answer. Healthcare professionals seek the help of nuclear pharmacists for delivering radioactive therapy to patients as well.

Perfusionist

A career role we are sure you haven’t heard of in the healthcare, perfusionists are an important part of the team conducting heart surgery on patients. Highly skilled and trained in their field, perfusionists are responsible for maintaining the circulatory and respiratory systems of patients during any kind of emergency.

The perfusionist does this by operating the cardiopulmonary bypass machine or the “heart-lung” machine, which is responsible for substituting the heart and performing its function of pumping blood in the body during heart surgery. While surgeons and anesthesiologists are quickly associated with heart surgery, the role of a perfusionist is equally important.

Wound Care Specialist

If you think everyone attending to patients in a hospital is either a doctor or a nurse, think again. Wound care specialists are exclusive health professionals dealing in the treatment and bandaging of flesh wounds of patients. These include burns, unhealed surgical incisions, bed sores, and so on.

The prime responsibility of a wound care specialist is to prevent infection and hasten recovery time, no matter the wound is mild or severe. From evaluating and assessing patient wounds to establishing a treatment plan, administering stitches and wound management devices to consulting physicians in case of complexities, wound care specialists take care of the overall healing process of the patient as well.

Medical Illustrators

One of the most unique and creative careers in the field of healthcare belongs to the healthcare illustrator, who can put to use their knowledge of medicine, updates in the industry as well as their flare of art to bring out accurate or representational drawings, graphic designs, and illustrations of cellular bodies, body parts, ailments, diseases, disabilities, and more.

While hand drawings were common earlier, today medical illustrators deploy computer-assisted design programs over traditional drawing techniques. Some use elaborates 3D models and complicated figurines to deliver accurate medical imagery, depending on what the project demands. To become a medical illustrator, one needs to have detailed knowledge about the human anatomy and biological sciences, along with a talent in the fine arts. 

A Plethora of Opportunities are Opening up in healthcare

The healthcare industry’s importance and growth has emerged to the fore now more than ever before. The sector is booming more than ever before. And a plethora of opportunities are opening up. take medical coding for example. The field has proven to be the backbone of the healthcare industry’s Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) process and skilled coding companies are becoming increasingly important for relaying critical information quickly and effectively.

This is why several healthcare organizations are depending on offshore medical coding companies offering remote services. While ensuring complete compliance with relevant regulations, these companies come with increased security measures to keep medical documentation safe yet accessible. The right medical coding partner helps organizations enhance their productivity, streamlines revenue flow as well as information sharing to make the service experience smoother for both service providers and patients.