An Aging Population Is Reshaping Healthcare Demand
By 2030, one in five Americans is likely to be 65 or older, according to the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL). That’s only the beginning. The ACL also reports that, between 2022 and 2040, the number of Americans aged 85 and older is expected to more than double. By 2050, all Baby Boomers will be at least 85.
An aging population means more demand for physician services. In 2023, 93% of older adults reported at least one chronic condition and over 97% of adults 75+ report visiting the doctor at least once annually.
Job Growth for Medical Assistants Is Outpacing Most Careers
With the steadily increasing population of older adults in the United States, it’s not surprising that medical assistants are in high demand. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts a 12% growth rate for this role between 2024 and 2034 – four times the average across all occupations. That works out to 101,200 new jobs.
The BLS attributes this increased demand to the growing number of older adults, which is expected to increase healthcare demand across specialties. With more than 65+ patients overall, and a high growth rate for medical assistants specifically, healthcare employers should expect a dramatic increase in the number of Geriatric Medical Assistants they need to hire going forward.
Medical Assisting Offers Variety in Work Setting
Older adults’ need for care isn’t limited to one specialty or setting. Medical assistants with geriatric experience are in demand across outpatient and inpatient care, with opportunities in hospitals, long-term care facilities, private offices and multi-specialty clinics.
Even family practices need medical assistants skilled in working with older adults. These practices often treat patients from birth to the end of life. As these practices’ patients age, clinical experience with older adults will be highly valuable.
How MedCerts Can Help
For employers at hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities struggling to find enough Geriatric Medical Assistants, the MedCerts Geriatric Medical Assistant Program offers a solution through upskilling. The 30-week certification training program requires between 15 and 20 hours of work per week and teaches through asynchronous, online video instruction, simulations, and interactive content.
Students learn the essentials of clinical medical assisting, including assisting with the fundamentals of physical examinations, immunology, phlebotomy, surgical procedure, assisting nutrition, emergency preparedness and much more. In addition, there’s a special emphasis on Geriatrics for the Healthcare Professional, with a two-week course covering the unique challenges of older adults, such as how to identify and mitigate the safety risks of adults, enhance the physical, mental and emotional well-being of the geriatric patients and how to manage chronic conditions more common among older adults.
Learners who successfully complete the program and testing will receive both the Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) certification and Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) certification from the National Healthcareer Association, and are job-ready to begin work as qualified geriatric medical assistants.
MedCerts has a proven reputation of successfully addressing the medical assistant needs of healthcare facilities. For instance, UnityPoint Health is a hospital network in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin that employs more than 32,000 people. Faced with a potential shortage of qualified medical assistants, they teamed up with MedCerts Partner Solutions to create the UnityPoint Health Medical Assistant Career Pathways Program in September 2023.
In 14-16 weeks, the first three cohorts or 39 learners all finished the program and were promoted to certified medical assistants at UnityPoint Health. Overall, the program had a 100% completion rate and 97% employee retention rate, showing the lasting impact of upskilling employees.
Helping Existing Medical Assistants Expand Their Skill Set
For some healthcare employers, the challenge is that they already have trained medical assistants, but those staff members could use additional training on dealing with the needs of older adults. MedCerts Partner Solutions also offers online training tailor made for that need.
Geriatrics for the Healthcare Professional is a 32-hour, 2-week online course that offers only the geriatric-specific sections of the MedCerts Geriatric Medical Assistant Program. This is a targeted, cost-effective way to make sure your existing medical assistants have the right training to offer older patients the best care.
Another upskilling resource around further education for certified medical assistants is the Memory Care Essentials for Healthcare Professionals course that MedCerts Partner Solutions offers. The 16-hour or 1-week online course focuses on teaching allied healthcare professionals how to better help older adults with dementia. The curriculum addresses how to treat patients dealing with memory loss in a variety of different healthcare settings, including long-term care, memory care, skilled nursing, hospitals, home care and clinical environments.
Conclusion
Regardless of the setting, medical assistants are going to interact with more geriatric patients relative to their percentage of the general population. The number of Americans who are 65 or over is 18%, and they account for 26% of all physician visits, 35% of all hospital stays and 90% of nursing home use. By training medical assistants specifically in geriatric care, healthcare providers will improve quality of care and better align with patient needs. MedCerts Partner Solutions offers a variety of online training opportunities to bridge the knowledge gap around treating geriatric patients.
Want more information about how MedCerts Partner Solutions can help address the shortage of geriatric medical assistants? Contact us at [email protected].
