Planning and Analysis Careers | Data Analyst (Healthcare)

Data Analyst (Healthcare)

Career Area: Planning and Analysis

Occupation Group: Data Analysis and Mathematics

Salary

Percentile wages tell how much a certain percentage of an overall population in a geographic area or within a given industry or field makes. The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.

An example would be the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value. At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.

A typical Data Analyst (Healthcare) earns the following wages (national and state):

State

The average salary in North Carolina for those pursuing this career is $75,705

*The salaries depicted here are representative of the range of salaries posted in job listings over the past year. Living wage in North Carolina is $30,000.

National

The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $73,907

*The salaries depicted here are representative of the range of salaries posted in job listings over the past year. Living wage in North Carolina is $30,000.

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

Analyzes medical data. Responsible for compiling and maintaining medical data needed by the organization. May offer insight on improvement of care systems within their place of employment.

Employment Trends

The job demand and job growth statistics shown here were derived from job posts over the past year. Expected job growth projections are extrapolated from year-over-year job post listing history.

Job demand and job growth is expected at the following rates:

LocationGrowth
North Carolina225+10.7%
Nationwide7166+10.2%

Skills

A professional in this position typically utilizes the following skills in the course of everyday work in this exciting and challenging field:

Baseline Skills

The following are baseline skills every Data Analyst (Healthcare) is expected to have in order to experience success in this field:

  • Communication Skills: The ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently.
  • Research: Experience performing creative and systematic work to understand a product, market, or customer, either before building a new solution, or to troubleshoot an existing issue
  • Microsoft Excel: Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications.
  • Teamwork / Collaboration: Experience working in collaborative efforts with a team to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way.
  • Problem Solving: Problem solving consists of using generic or ad hoc methods, in an orderly manner, for finding solutions to problems.

Specialized Skills

These skills are specific to working in this career:

  • Data Analysis: Data analysis, also known as analysis of data or data analytics, is a process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, suggesting conclusions, and supporting decision-making.
  • SQL: SQL ( ESS-kew-EL or SEE-kwl, Structured Query Language) is a domain-specific language used in programming and designed for managing data held in a relational database management system (RDBMS), or for stream processing in a relational data stream management system (RDSMS).
  • SAS: SAS (previously Statistical Analysis System) is a software suite developed by SAS Institute for advanced analytics, multivariate analyses, business intelligence, data management, and predictive analytics.
  • Tableau: Tableau Software ( tab-LOH) is a software company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States which produces interactive data visualization products focused on business intelligence.
  • Python: Python is a widely used high-level programming language for general-purpose programming, created by Guido van Rossum and first released in 1991.

Distinguishing Skills

Any Data Analyst (Healthcare) that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:

  • Statistical Reporting: Working experience of Statistical Reporting. Property and casualty insurance companies are required to file data with Statistical Agents who then compile the data for state insurance departments. The states use this information to ensure rates meet statutory standards. This data is also used by the states to monitor market structure. Each state has adopted its own reporting laws that set up this requirement for all insurers.
  • SPSS: SPSS Statistics is a software package used for logical batched and non-batched statistical analysis.
  • Data Validation: In computer science, data validation is the process of ensuring that a program operates on clean, correct and useful data.
  • Electronic Health Records: An electronic health record (EHR), or electronic medical record (EMR), is the systematized collection of patient and population electronically-stored health information in a digital format.
  • STATA: Stata is a general-purpose statistical software package created in 1985 by StataCorp.

Experience

This position typically requires the following level of experience. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Experience Required%
0 to 2 years33%
3 to 5 years51%
6 to 8 years10%

Many of the programs offered through NC State are designed for working professionals who need additional credentials to enhance existing work experience.

Students who do not have the expected level of experience may wish to look into internship and employment opportunities.

Common Job Titles

It is possible to find work in this field in positions commonly listed as the following job titles:

  • Data Analyst
  • Senior Data Analyst
  • Senior Health Data Analyst
  • Data Specialist
  • Health Data Analyst

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