Demand for college graduates and attributes health care organizations seek in accounting recruits

US health care services will be among the top ten occupations with the fastest growth over the next decade with total employment in health care services expected to increase by 19 million by the year 2006. As the market continues to expand, demand for graduates is likely to shift from the traditional areas of employment, to more industry‐related jobs. Recruiters will focus their attention on hiring graduates as accountability, cost containment, profitability, and reporting of health care services become increasingly critical for health care providers competing for the national health care dollars. A study was conducted to determine what knowledge, skills, and attributes (KSAs) are most important for an accounting career in health care organizations. The investigation resulted in identification of 25 most important KSAs. Further analysis revealed that the KSAs identified herein are somewhat at odds with those found by other researchers for employment in other segments, e.g. public accounting.