Download SAS Programming Career Choices in the Health Care Industry

SAS Programming Career Choices In The Health Care Industry
Bryan K. Beverly, SHEPARD-PATTERSON, Baltimore, Maryland
Table 1 also shows that the clinical
research programming opportunities tend
to: (1) exist at private pharmaceutical and
biotechnology firms, as well as Federal
agencies, such as the Food and Drug
Administration, the National Institutes of
Health, the National Institute for Drug
Addictions, etc.; (2) be positions that
require a mixture of technical and data
analysis skills; and (3) provide moderate to
relatively
high
compensation
for
experienced programmers, especially in the
private sector.
ABSTRACT
As the traditional health care access,
delivery and finance paradigms evolve,
the opportunities for SAS programmers
to address the technical needs of the
health care industry are expanding.
Above and beyond prototypical positions
such as research assistants and clinical
research programmers, new employment
opportunities for programmers are
emerging as health care providers,
payers and patients concern themselves
with the business of health.
Furthermore, Table 1 shows that the
MIS/DSS programming opportunities tend
to: (1) be found at private software
development firms and public health
administration agencies - Federal and
state; (2) be positions that primarily require
technical skills; and (3) provide relatively
moderate to high compensation for
experienced programmers.
The purpose of this poster is to present
an overview of the SAS programming
careers in the health care industry. This
information should be helpful to those
persons with good or growing skills that
need ideas on where they should target
their career development activities.
INTRODUCTION
Finally, Table 1 shows that the health policy
programming opportunities tend to: (1) be
found in academic research centers, public
policy research centers and private ‘think
tanks’; (2) be positions that primarily require
data analysis skills; and (3) provide
relatively low to moderate compensation for
experienced programmers.
The evolution of the traditional health care
paradigms is expanding the range of career
choices for SAS programmers. As health
care providers, payers and patients
reconfigure how to best access, deliver and
finance health care, SAS professionals are
finding employment opportunities above
and beyond crunching numbers and
generating reports.
Of special note, Table 1 also indicates that
clinical research, MIS/DSS development
and health policy research organizations
recruit for a wide variety of positions and
the SAS products used vary according to
the degree of technical development or
data analysis needed to do the work. In
other words, the three industry categories
are similar enough to enable one to
understand
shared
subject-matter
concepts; however, they are also different
enough to force one to develop new skill
As noted on Table 1, the dynamic business
of health has created three categories that
capture most of the health care-oriented
SAS programming opportunities: (1) clinical
research
support,
(2)
Management
Information
System/Decision
Support
System (MIS/DSS) development and (3)
health policy research support.
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sets in order to move from one category to
another.
CONCLUSION
This poster has presented an overview of
the types of career choices available to
SAS programmers in the health care
industry. By no means should the reader
assume that the information presented here
represents
an
exhaustive
list
of
employment opportunities. Moreover, the
compensation estimates in each industry
category presented are general in scope.
One’s compensation potential is also a
function of employment status (i.e.,
employee vis-à-vis consultant), ability,
experience, geographic cost of living trends
and whether or not the organization’s
primary goal is to generate profit. Finally,
one should not assume that no other skill
sets beyond SAS are needed to obtain
employment. Instead, one should use this
information as a tool in evaluating where
best to invest one’s time and energy, based
upon one’s interests and aptitudes.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
SAS, SAS/AF, SAS/ASSIST, SAS/FSP,
SAS/GRAPH,
SAS/PH-Clinical
and
SAS/STAT are registered trademarks or
trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA
and other countries.  indicates USA
registration.
Other brand and product names are
registered trademarks or trademarks of
their respective companies.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Bryan K. Beverly
SHEPARD-PATTERSON
3106 Timanus Lane, Suite 215
Baltimore, Maryland 21244
(410) 281-0064 VOICE
(410) 281-0057 FAX
[email protected] E-MAIL
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TABLE 1 - An Overview Of SAS Programming Career Choices In The Health Care Industry
CATEGORY
Clinical Research
Support
Management
Information
System/Decision
Support System
Development
Health Policy
Research Support
TYPICAL
ORGANIZATIONS
Pharmaceuticals,
Genetic/Biotech,
Clinical Research
Organizations and
Federal Agencies (
FDA, NIH, NIDA,
etc.)
Private Software
Developers and
Public Health
agencies
Academic
Research Centers,
Public Policy
Research Centers
and Private ‘ThinkTanks’
TYPICAL
POSITIONS
Project Managers,
Biostatisticians,
Clinical Data
Auditors, Clinical
Application
Programmers and
Data Base
Administrators
SAS PRODUCTS
USED
Base SAS
SAS/AF
SKILL SETS
NEEDED
Technical
Development and
Data Analysis
RELATIVE
COMPENSATION
Moderate - High
Technical
Development
Moderate - High
Data Analysis
Low - Moderate
SAS/GRAPH
SAS/PH-Clinical
SAS/STAT
Base SAS
Project Managers,
System Analysts,
Clinical Application
Developers,
Statisticians, Data
managers and
Programmer
Analysts
SAS/AF
SAS/FSP
SAS/GRAPH
SAS/STAT
Base SAS
Project Managers,
Outcome
Evaluators,
Principle
Investigators,
Health Policy
Analysts, Data
managers,
Business Analysts
and Statisticians
SAS/ASSIST
SAS/FSP
SAS/GRAPH
SAS/STAT
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