image: Ultrasound Technologists

A sound investment

AMONG THE STAFFING FLUCTUATIONS SEEN IN EVERY MODALITY, one area in particular that has been making noise in 2008 is the shortage of ultrasound technologists. The U.S. Department of Labor has projected the need for an additional 23,000 ultrasound technologists to enter the field by 2014. As the aging baby boomer generation continues into its golden years, the demand for imaging procedures is expected to grow to nearly half a billion outpatients and 100 million inpatient scans.

With the nation's aging population, as well as a looming healthcare staffing crisis, healthcare administrators will soon feel the pressure to improve retention and increase recruitment efforts for ultrasound technologists. There is also an increasing need for hospitals to fill urgent radiology department needs and retain existing providers.

In its 2008 Radiology Compensation Review survey, the Dallas-based healthcare recruiting firm, RadSciences Group, reports that while its healthcare clients found radiography, CT, MRI, and nuclear medicine recruitment easier in 2007 compared to previous years, sonographers were scarce by comparison. The survey showed a particularly high demand for interventional technologists, as well as vascular and cardiac sonographers.

While healthcare facilities may be scouring for available sonographers, according to the survey, they are looking for experience even more. Many of the responding healthcare facilities reported that they would not consider applicants with less than one to two years of viable, concrete experience. Others responded that they also require applicants to be adept in both general ultrasound and vascular studies, presumably to maximize potential to fill the ultrasound gaps in various areas of the facility.