WIXLIB

Medical AssistantsLabor Market Analysis: Imperial CountyJune 2021SummaryNEW PROGRAMRECOMMENDATION?EVIDENCE OF A SUPPLYGAP?AT OR ABOVE THELIVING WAGE?EXPECTED LEVEL OF EDUCATIONBachelor’s DegreeAssociate DegreeProceed withCautionSUPPORTFOR PROGRAMMODIFICATION?Some College or CertificateNUMBER OFINSTITUTIONS THATPROVIDE TRAININGNUMBER OFANNUAL JOB OPENINGSHS Diploma or EquivalentLess than a HS DiplomaApprenticeshipThe San Diego-Imperial Center of Excellence for Labor Market Research (COE) developed this brief toassist the region’s community colleges with strategic planning and program development. According toavailable labor market information, Medical Assistants in Imperial County have a labor market demand of40 annual job openings (while average demand for a single occupation in Imperial County is 14 annualjob openings), and one educational institution in Imperial County supplies 22 awards for this occupation,suggesting that there is a supply gap in the labor market. Entry-level wages are slightly below the livingwage for this occupation. This brief recommends that the colleges proceed with caution when developing anew program for this occupation and supports a program modification because 1) there is a supply gapand 2) entry-level wages are slightly below the living wage. The colleges should note that expected levelof education for this occupation is a postsecondary non-degree award and Imperial Valley College is theonly institution that provides awards in the region. The colleges should also note that the percentage ofstudents who complete a related program and earn a living wage is lower than the percentage of studentswho complete Career Education programs in general across the state.

IntroductionThis report provides labor market information in Imperial County for the following occupational code in theStandard Occupational Classification (SOC)1 system:Medical Assistants (SOC 31-9092): Perform administrative and certain clinical duties under thedirection of a physician. Administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintainingmedical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purposes. Clinical duties may includetaking and recording vital signs and medical histories, preparing patients for examination, drawingblood, and administering medications as directed by physician. Sample reported job titles include: Chiropractor AssistantCertified Medical AssistantMedical Office AssistantRegistered Medical AssistantOptometric Technician Optometric AssistantOphthalmic TechnicianDoctor's AssistantClinical AssistantProjected Occupational DemandBetween 2020 and 2025, Medical Assistants are projected to increase by 46 net jobs or 16 percent(Exhibit 1). Employers in Imperial County will need to hire 40 workers annually to fill new jobs and backfilljobs due to attrition caused by turnover and retirement, for example.Exhibit 1: Number of Jobs for Medical Assistants (2010-2025) 2Imperial County400350300286335289250200150100500Labor Market Demand40 annual job openings(2020-2025)2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system is used by federal statistical agencies to classify workers into occupational categories forthe purpose of collecting, calculating or disseminating data. bls.gov/soc.2 EMSI 2021.1; QCEW, Non-QCEW, Self-Employed.12

3

EarningsMedical Assistants receive entry-level hourly earnings of 13.16; this is slightly less than the living wage fora household of two adults and two school-age children in Imperial County, which is 13.20 per hour(Exhibit 2). 3Exhibit 2: Hourly Earnings4 for Medical Assistants in Imperial County5 20.00 18.97 19.00 18.00 15.68Living Wage 15.00 14.28 13.20 12.4310th Percentile 14.00 13.20 13.00 13.1625th Percentile 17.00Medical Assistants 16.00 12.00Median75th Percentile90th Percentile 11.00“California Family Needs Calculator (formerly the Self-Sufficiency Standard),” Insight: Center for Community Economic Development, last updated2018. insightcced.org/2018-self-sufficiency-standard.4 10th and 25th percentiles could be considered entry-level wages, and 75th and 90th percentiles could be considered experienced wages forindividuals who may have been in the occupation longer, received more training than others, etc.5 EMSI 2021.1; QCEW, Non-QCEW, Self-Employed.34

Educational SupplyEducational supply for an occupation can be estimated by analyzing the number of awards in relatedTaxonomy of Programs (TOP) or Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes.6 There are four TOPcodes and six CIP code related to Medical Assistants (Exhibit 3).Exhibit 3: Related TOP and CIP Codes for Medical AssistantsTOP or CIP CodeTOP or CIP Program TitleTOP 0514.20Medical Office TechnologyTOP 1208.00Medical AssistingTOP 1208.10Clinical Medical AssistingTOP 1208.20Administrative Medical AssistingCIP 51.0710Medical Office Assistant/SpecialistCIP 51.0712Medical Reception/ReceptionistCIP 51.0714Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical BillerCIP 51.0716Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical SecretaryCIP 51.0801Medical/Clinical AssistantCIP 51.0802Clinical/Medical Laboratory AssistantAccording to TOP data, one community college supplies the region with awards for this occupation:Imperial Valley College. According to CIP data, no non-community-college institution supplies the regionwith awards (Exhibit 4).Exhibit 4: Number of Awards (Certificates and Degrees) Conferred by Postsecondary Institutions(Program Year 2014-15 through PY2018-19 Average)TOP orCIP CodeTOP or CIP Program Title1208.00Medical Assisting Imperial Valley3-Yr AnnualAverage CCAwards(PY16-17 toPY18-19)Other EducationalInstitutions 3-YrAnnual AverageAwards(PY14-15 toPY16-17)3-Yr TotalAverageSupply(PY14-15 toPY18-19)22022220Total22TOP data comes from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office MIS Data Mart (datamart.cccco.edu) and CIP data comes from theIntegrated Postsecondary Education Data System (nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data).65

Demand vs. SupplyComparing labor demand (annual openings) with labor supply 7 suggests a supply gap for this occupationin Imperial County, with 40 annual openings and 22 awards. Comparatively, there are 12,334 annualopenings in California and 13,285 awards, suggesting that there is an oversupply across the state 8(Exhibit 5).Exhibit 5: Labor Demand (Annual Openings) Compared with Labor Supply (Average Annual Awards)Community Colleges and Other PostsecondaryEducational s)Supply(Total AnnualAverage Supply)Supply Gap orOversupply40221812,33413,285951Please note: This is a basic analysis of supply and demand of labor. The data does not include workerscurrently in the labor force who could fill these positions or workers who are not captured by publiclyavailable data. This data should be used to discuss the potential gaps or oversupply of workers; however,it should not be the only basis for determining whether or not a program should be developed.Labor supply can be found from two different sources: EMSI or the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office MIS Data Mart. EMSI usesCIP codes while MIS uses TOP codes. Different coding systems result in differences in the supply numbers.8 “Supply and Demand,” Centers of Excellence Student Outcomes, coeccc.net/Supply-and-Demand.aspx.76

Student Outcomes and Regional ComparisonsAccording to the California Community Colleges LaunchBoard, 23 to 46 percent of students in the SanDiego-Imperial region earned a living wage after completing a program related to Medical Assistants,compared to 23 to 40 percent statewide and 55 percent of students in Career Education programs ingeneral across the state (Exhibit 6a). 9Exhibit 6a: Percentage of Students Who Earned a Living Wage by Program, PY2017-18 1051%All Career Ed Programs55%29%Medical Office Technology (0514.20)40%46%Medical Assisting (1208.00)Clinical Medical Assisting (1208.10)Administrative Medical Assisting (1208.20)940%San Diego-ImperialStatewideN/A23%23%27%“California Community Colleges Strong Workforce Program,” California Community Colleges, calpassplus.org/LaunchBoard/SWP.aspx.Among completers and skills builders who exited, the proportion of students who attained a living wage.107

According to the California Community Colleges LaunchBoard, 56 to 75 percent of students in the SanDiego-Imperial region obtained a job closely related to their field of study after completing a programrelated to Medical Assistants, compared to 56 to 76 percent statewide and 72 percent of students inCareer Education programs in general across the state (Exhibit 6b).11Exhibit 6b: Percentage of Students in a Job Closely Related to Field of Study by Program, PY2016-171273%All Career Ed Programs72%56%Medical Office Technology (0514.20)56%74%Medical Assisting (1208.00)Clinical Medical Assisting (1208.10)Administrative Medical Assisting (1208.20)San a Community Colleges Strong Workforce Program,” California Community Colleges, calpassplus.org/LaunchBoard/SWP.aspx.Most recent year with available data is Program Year 2016-17. Percentage of Students in a Job Closely Related to Field of Study: Amongstudents who responded to the CTEOS, the percentage reporting employment in the same or similar field as their program of study.11128

Online Job PostingsThis report analyzes not only historical and projected (traditional LMI) data, but also recent data fromonline job postings (real-time LMI). Online job postings may provide additional insight about recentchanges in the labor market that are not captured by historical data. Between 2010 and 2020, there wasan average of 17 online job postings per year for Medical Assistants in Imperial County (Exhibit 7). Pleasenote that online job postings do not equal labor market demand; demand is represented by annual jobopenings (see Exhibit 1). Employers may post a position multiple times for various reasons, such asincreasing the pool of applicants, for example.Exhibit 7: Number of Online Job Postings for Medical Assistants in Imperial County (2010-2020) 017201820192020Top EmployersBetween January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2020, the top five employers in Imperial County for thisoccupation were El Centro Regional Medical Center, Loyal Source, Indian Health Service, PioneersMemorial Healthcare District, and Department of Health and Human Services based on online job postings(Exhibit 8).Exhibit 8: Top Employers in Imperial County for Medical Assistants14Top Employers 1314El Centro Regional Medical CenterLoyal SourceIndian Health ServicePioneers Memorial Healthcare DistrictDepartment of Health and Human Services State of CaliforniaCounty ImperialNextCare Urgent CareMWIDM Inc.HonorHealthBurning Glass Technologies, “Labor Insight Real-Time Labor Market Information Tool.” 2010-2020.Burning Glass Technologies, “Labor Insight Real-Time Labor Market Information Tool.” 2018-2020.9