Workforce

Healthcare businesses added 39,000 jobs in December, finishing out a banner 2015 that saw the industry add an average of 40,000 jobs a month, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday. Overall, the U.S. economy added 292,000 jobs in the month and the unemployment held flat at 5 percent. Healthcare’s 40,000-a-month job gains in 2015 were almost double 2014, which saw the industry add 26,000 a month. Ambulatory health services led the hiring, adding 23,400 jobs in the month. Hospitals also saw big gains in the month, adding, 12,300 jobs. No healthcare sector lost jobs in December. Here's the seasonally adjusted breakdown for the healthcare sector. All numbers are in thousands: Industry Dec. 2014 Oct. 2015 Nov. 2015 Dec. 2015 Change Industry Dec. 2014 Oct. 2015 Nov. 2015 Dec. 2015 Change Healthcare 14,863.70 15,269.70 15,299.00 15,338.40 39.4 Ambulatory healthcare services 6,766.90 6,992.70 7,001.50 7,024.90 23.4 Offices of physicians 2,501.80 2,583.30 2,587.50 2,591.30 3.8 Outpatient care centers 726.5 752.6 755.3 758.8 3.5 Home healthcare services 1,289.60 1,344.10 1,344.40 1,348.10 3.7 Hospitals 4,815.60 4,960.50 4,975.50 4,987.80 12.3 Nursing and residential care facilities 3,281.20 3,316.50 3,322.00 3,325.70 3.7 Nursing care facilities 1,653.40 1,662.30 1,664.40 1,666.90 2.5 Twitter: @HenryPowderly

Mary Beth Mitchell, RN, chief nursing informatics officer at Texas Health Resources, has won the 2015 HIMSS Nursing Informatics Leadership Award, honored for helping make THR a national leader in its use of health information technology. In charge of leading nurse utilization and optimization of electronic health records and other health IT at the sprawling Texas health system, Mitchell has helped spread knowledge about the power of nursing informatics through presentations, books and articles in professional journals. Under her leadership, THR has won both the HIMSS Stage 7 and Davies Awards. This past year at HIMSS15 in Chicago, Mitchell was honored with a 2015 Healthcare IT News H.I.T. Men and Women award. "Mary Beth is an extraordinary leader in the field of nursing informatics," said Joyce Sensmeier, RN, vice president, informatics, HIMSS North America, in a statement. [Also: 10 nurse execs at the top of their game] "As the chair of HIMSS nursing informatics committee, the former co-chair of the HIMSS Nursing Executive Engagement Workgroup, and a member of the Nursing Informatics Symposium Planning Committee, she is a respected thought leader in transforming healthcare and patient care through the use of technology." Mitchell will be honored at the HIMSS16 Awards Gala on, Thursday, March 3 at the 2016 HIMSS Conference & Exhibition. Learn more about HIMSS16 and the Nursing Informatics Symposium. Twitter: @mikemiliardHITN

Men, on average, earned $126,262, compared to $100,762 for women in the survey of 1,900 healthcare professionals that includes CEOs, CIOs, IT project managers and other titles.

New college graduates entering the lucrative mobile app economy earn about $99,000 per year on average, more than double the average salary that a typical new grad earns, according to a new report from ACT/The App Association. As a result, the booming market is giving healthcare professionals a steadily increasing number of new and potentially lucrative job opportunities. “Changes in the regulatory landscape have created new opportunities for connected health companies,” said Morgan Reed, executive director of ACT/The App Association, in a statement. “With healthcare providers shifting from fee-for-service to value-based payments, growth will continue in key areas including chronic condition management, personal fitness and wellness, and remote patient monitoring.” Mobile apps are poised to have a profound impact this year on the $3 trillion healthcare industry, the report titled “State of the App Economy” found. For example, 86 percent of clinicians say mobile apps will be central to patient health by 2020; the connected health market will reach $117 billion by 2020; and the remote patient monitoring market will reach $46 billion by 2017. The so-called app economy is a $120 billion ecosystem worldwide. While 74 percent of app companies are in the United States, 82 percent are startups or small businesses and 82 percent are located outside of Silicon Valley in both urban and rural areas. The research also determined that 68 percent of app companies have unfilled positions – and that number is growing. App businesses typically start out very small. Those that achieve success suddenly are in need of various types of professionals to manage and take the business to the next level of growth. Top skills in demand are: developer, marketing, engineering, business development, human resources, customer service, finance and legal expertise. These professionals can be seasoned executives or new college graduates. Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT

Jonathan S. Lewin, MD, senior vice president for integrated healthcare delivery and co-chair for strategic planning at Johns Hopkins Medicine, will leave the Baltimore health system for Emory Healthcare in Atlanta. He is slated to begin his tenure as president, CEO and chairman of the board of directors at Emory on Feb. 1.

Carolinas HealthCare Systems Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer Craig D. Richardville has been named the 2015 John E. Gall, Jr. CIO of the Year by CHIME and HIMSS, which give the award jointly each year.

Congress on Wednesday will consider legislation to allow physicians working in ambulatory surgical centers to receive the same payment incentives for meaningful use of electronic health records as doctors in other settings.

More than 720 data breaches occurred this year, and the top seven cyber attacks alone have left more than 193 million personal records open to fraud and identity theft.

Tufts Medical Center has announced a plan to bring virtual reality to patient care, giving prospective patients a detailed view of the pre-procedural process, complete with a 360-degree view of the medical facility and staff.

Scripps Health has hired Andy Crowder as its chief information officer and corporate senior vice president. He comes to Scripps with Epic implementation experience at MaineHealth.