Back 2 Basics

I’m a clinical social worker who’s been in healthcare since 2012 and spent the last five years navigating the wild, wonderful world of healthcare tech. Welcome to Informed & Employed, where we post jobs, share insights, and support each other—especially through career transitions like layoffs (which, let’s be real, too many of us have experienced lately).

This month, we’re diving into healthcare technology—what it is, why it matters, and how you can get in on the action.

🏥 So, What Exactly Is Healthcare Technology?

Healthcare technology (health-tech) is where medical expertise meets cutting-edge innovation to improve patient care, streamline operations, and make the healthcare system (hopefully) a little less chaotic. As the sector grows, so do the career opportunities—so whether you have a tech background or a clinical one, there’s room for you here.

Health Tech Includes:

✅ Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems

✅ Telemedicine platforms

✅ Medical device software

✅ Healthcare analytics tools

✅ Mobile health applications

✅ AI-driven diagnostic tools

✅ Patient portal systems

✅ Medical imaging software

✅ Remote patient monitoring systems

✅ Digital Therapeutics

💼 Careers in Healthcare Technology

“But What Kinds of Jobs Are Out There?” 🤔

Ever scroll through LinkedIn and wonder what do these people actually do? Here’s a short list of roles that pop up all the time—and that people in my circle are most interested in:

🛠 Senior Product Manager – Leads the strategic direction of a product, ensuring it aligns with market needs and company goals. Also, mentor junior product managers (because teamwork makes the dream work).

🏥 Clinical Operations Specialist – Keeps the daily gears turning in a healthcare organization, making sure projects stay on track, on budget, and within regulations.

🎓 Training Specialist – Designs and delivers training programs to help employees master procedures and best practices—because good training = better patient care.

💰 Payer Strategist – Develops the strategy to optimize revenue, secure timely reimbursements, and maintain solid relationships with insurance payers (aka, the people controlling the money).

🛤 Transitioning from Direct Care to Healthcare Tech

If you’re a healthcare professional looking to move from direct patient care into an administrative or tech-focused role, here’s how to make the switch:

🔧 Build Your Technical Skills

📚 Take online courses in healthcare IT

💻 Learn basic programming and SaaS database skills

📊 Get comfortable with healthcare analytics tools

🩺 Master common EHR systems

🎯 Level Up Professionally

👥 Join professional associations (HIMSS, AMIA, SDMH)

🎤 Attend healthcare tech conferences

📜 Get relevant certifications

🤝 Network like your career depends on it (because it kinda does)

🔍 Gain Hands-On Experience

🙋‍♀️ Volunteer for tech-related projects

🖥 Become an EHR super-user

⚙️ Participate in system implementations

📑 Join hospital technology committees

🆕 Reinvent Your Professional Identity

💡 Maintain your clinical credentials while transitioning

📢 Build new professional networks

🔄 Develop a hybrid clinical-technical expertise

📝 Create a new career narrative (yes, storytelling matters)

🚀 The Bottom Line: Healthcare tech is booming, and whether you’re coming from a tech background or a clinical one, there’s a place for you here. If you’re looking for your next move, let’s navigate it together.

What I’m reading this week

For the past few weeks, I’ve been really into newsletters. One to check out is the Out of Pocket newsletter! It’s amazing, with lots of helpful tips and a community!

Informed & Employed Community

As of today, our community has 20 members, and we are really excited to grow! Our main goal is to share jobs and help each other with networking and interview prep. So join us on Discord if you’re interested! 

The Wrap Up

What we’re working on:

• We are launching a podcast on Patreon focused on career exploration. The goal is to chat with my network about what they are doing at work so that people can actually know which jobs to apply for. We will also talk with founders and ask what they seek in their next hire.

That’s it for now!

Questions for our readers:

• What kinds of job roles do you wonder about? What are they doing, or how did they get there?

• Who would you like to see me interview?

• What are your thoughts? How did you get into healthcare technology? What trends are you watching?

See you next time.

-Jaclyn

💌 Got a question? A success story? A job lead? Reply and share!