Essential Healthcare knowledge a business analyst should possess for a BA job in healthcare domain,

 Business analysis is the art of requirements management with the potential support to the whole of the project life cycle. A potential business analyst candidate will have to the basic knowledge of requirement methodologies, testing methods, implementation cycle, software development process framework. If any particular Business analysis certification like ISEB has been done, then the prospects of the candidate is good for the position of a business analyst. But if the business analyst position is for a particular domain such as healthcare, then there are lot more expectations from the business analyst candidate. Healthcare domain is a more complex domain and requires a good working background in the industry to know in detail its business process and internal workings.

The healthcare domain requires an in depth knowledge of the workings of the hospitals and laboratories as there are many intrinsic differences in this industry. There are several political, socio-economic and legal issue to be taken care of while dealing with the business processes. Techniques and technologies used in the healthcare domain have undergone a sea of change from the past few years and the business analyst candidate will have to have a good grasp of these processes and be technologically sound. The business analyst's job in the healthcare domain is not only to provide better processes and software packages but also to ensure that the time lines, cost and accuracy are adhered to as the systems are linked to actual human lives and any mistake, problem or slip up may result in disaster directly or indirectly.

A healthcare business analyst should have the experience of clinical trial procedures and terminology with added knowledge in tools like SAS etc beneficial. Expertise or basic knowledge in clinical research will also help in getting the healthcare domain job for the prospective business analyst. There are several systems which are enterprise content management systems, data warehouses storing millions of patient or staff records and medical data. Also, there are systems which help the medical professionals to make informed decisions. In case of any mis information there can be resulting fatalities. Its the responsibility of the business analyst to ensure that the implementation of such systems are fail proof. Another important attribute of a business analyst in the healthcare domain is discreteness to ensure that the lives dependent of such systems are protected. While analyzing requirements for healthcare related software information security is one of the major issues and the business analyst should be aware of the importance of the security of the data. Hence, the non functional requirement specifications which are also documented by the business analyst should clearly list out the risks and constraints related to the health care domain and should ensure extra layer of information security if required.

Apart from the functional knowledge of the health care domain, the prospective business analyst candidate should also be aware of the latest programming languages, business applications, data mining tools, documentation management and other such technology stuff. So its vital for a candidate coming for a job in the healthcare domain realizes the nuances of the industry and hence, should preferably have a solid background in the healthcare domain and if possible at least  a few years experience as a business analyst.