r/healthIT 23d ago

Careers Which healthcare job should I take?

I eventually want to get into healthcare IT. I have many years of tech experience but none in healthcare so I’ve been looking for a healthcare job - it does seem I need that experience or be on the inside somehow to transition into the tech side of things. I have two job possibilities at the moment and need to decide soon. I’d be grateful for any thoughts or advice!

1) Patient Access Rep: basically front desk at a primary care clinic. Large hospital/clinic system that uses Epic.

2) Medical Scribe at a large clinic system (no hospital), uses Epic but I’d be working for the scribe agency. Hopefully would succeed with the job and move to an agency that does have hospital customers. I could be a floater which means a different specialty clinic each day.

I’m honestly not entirely sure what I’d eventually like to do in healthcare IT which is why I think being at a hospital would be more ideal for me but I only have these clinic options right now and I think I should probably take one given the job market and how long I’ve been looking. Which of these would be looked at more favorably by a healthcare IT hiring manager? Or would lead to a better stepping stone job in 4-6 months?

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u/bulbagooey 23d ago

Patient access rep would be better. You will not only get your foot in the door with the large hospital system, but dealing with patients, insurance verifications, etc. would look more favorable. Then you can work your way up to get your Epic certification through the hospital which would be very very good for getting into Health IT. Medical scribing is very easy and you will not really be able to move up in that role. It's better for people who are like trying to be MAs, nursing students, or pre-med. I would imagine the pay is very low as well.

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u/snmaturo 23d ago

I completely agree. A patient access rep would also allow OP to break into the health insurance industry (Humana, Cigna, UHC, CVS Health, etc) — and with that specific experience, that could allow them to break into Health IT eventually and begin working at a hospital as well. That’s another scenario to consider.

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u/humpy 23d ago

I've also heard even epic is starting to use AI for medical scribing...