Looking for your place in healthcare with a job you can feel good about, leave at work, and take home a decent paycheck? Cardio-phlebotomy may just be the combination you’ve been searching for. An increasingly important member of healthcare teams, cardio-phlebotomy technicians also push salary boundaries and earning potential without having to complete a four-year (or more!) medical degree.

Read on to see how learning more about a cardio-phlebotomy technician’s salary might answer a few of your career questions and conundrums.

What is a cardio-phlebotomy technician?

Let’s not skip the important definitions before we dive into the numbers. Cardio-phlebotomy technicians are cross-trained, multifaceted professionals and an invaluable part of a well-rounded healthcare team.

But let’s parse out their role a bit. Phlebotomy is the process of drawing blood from patients, while electrocardiogram (EKG) procedures involve adjusting, maintaining, and interpreting an EKG heart monitor and recording its results.

A cardio-phlebotomy technician, then, has a slightly wider set of skills than a medical assistant or nursing assistant, and more specialized training, so they’re available to fill gaps in cardiac care and diagnostic testing. In fast-paced healthcare settings, this flexibility makes the cardio-phlebotomy technician especially valuable, as they can help streamline patient care and reduce wait times for critical tests.

What does a cardio-phlebotomy technician do?

In the day-to-day, cardio-phlebotomy technicians serve across healthcare settings, from hospitals to clinics to independent doctors’ offices, urgent care facilities, rehabs, and more. Whether privately owned or government-funded, cardio-phlebotomy technicians are vital to nearly every healthcare endeavor.

In fact, because both bloodwork and heart monitoring are essential diagnostic tools, a cardio-phlebotomy technician is often directly involved in helping physicians detect and manage serious health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, infections, and chronic illnesses.

More specifically, cardio-phlebotomy technicians’ shift tasks typically include:

• Blood draws
• Specimen testing
• Infection control
• Operating, adjusting, and maintaining EKG heart monitors
• Interpreting and relaying the results of the electrocardiograph recordings

Depending on the workplace, a cardio-phlebotomy technician may additionally assist with prepping patients for procedures, verifying patient information, and ensuring samples are properly labeled and delivered to the lab for accurate testing.

These professionals must also have a strong grasp of soft skills when interacting with patients, as they’re often the only medical staff present during stressful blood draws or heart monitoring. You must learn to be a calming, reassuring presence to best support the patients in your care.

Become a patient care professional at Goodwin

How much do cardio-phlebotomy technicians earn?

Of course, it’s important to understand what exactly cardio-phlebotomy technicians do at work, but it’s difficult to go too far down this path unless you know for sure you’ll be able to reliably support yourself. You’re not looking to volunteer here!

It’s a tricky question to answer clearly, however, as a cardio-phlebotomy technician is more than a simple phlebotomist, yet lacks the imaging expertise of those who’ve completed radiography training. Because of this, the cardio-phlebotomy technician salary potential is vast, sitting between a typical phlebotomist salary, which hovers around $43,000/year, and a cardiovascular technologist’s salary, which inches up toward $70k annually. Admittedly, this is a pretty wide salary gap, which means there’s lots of room for upward mobility and specialization throughout your career.

Here are a few key factors that will play into your earning potential as a cardio-phlebotomy technician:

• Dual certification. Holding both a Phlebotomy Technician (CPT) and an EKG Technician (CET) credential makes you much more versatile in clinics, which drastically improves your negotiating power.
• Work setting. Cardiology clinics, private practices, and hospital cardiology units typically pay more than routine blood-testing laboratories, within which, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that hospitals or specialty medical centers generally offer higher base pay and benefits compared to private physician offices.
• Shift differentials. Working overnight, weekend, or holiday shifts can bump your hourly pay by an additional $2 to $5 per hour.
• Location. Where you work affects your cost of living, alongside your earning potential, with professionals in high-density areas or cities reporting higher earnings than those in rural areas. While the numbers shift slightly, the amount of purchasing power you have in this position is pretty steady.

So yes, the short answer is that a cardio-phlebotomy technician’s salary can support you straight out of school, yet the pathway offers a great deal of variety and potential as you gain experience or want to explore other avenues in healthcare throughout your career.

Become a cardio-phlebotomy technician at Goodwin University

There are quick programs that will solidify your phlebotomy skills in a matter of weeks; however, as this position acts as a sort of switch hitter in their work environment, filling gaps and multiple roles with their skills and certifications, you’re in a better position to negotiate up that cardio-phlebotomy technician salary with slightly expanded training.

At Goodwin University, we’ve designed the Patient Care Associate (PCA) program to strategically incorporate multiple certification opportunities throughout the three-semester curriculum.

Here’s how the PCT/A program curriculum breaks down:

• Semester 1: Nursing assistant training, including classroom instruction, hands-on clinical experience, and an on-site internship.
• Semester 2: Phlebotomy skills training and additional internship experience.
• Semester 3: Advanced phlebotomy techniques, advanced electrocardiogram skills training, and a final internship.

With this structure, PCA students begin their studies with nursing assistant training, so that by the end of the first semester, they are eligible to take the CNA certification exam and begin working as certified nursing assistants while finishing the program.

The entire program can be completed in as few as three 15-week semesters, meaning you can start applying for cardio-phlebotomy technician positions in less than 12 months!

Learn more about the PCA program at Goodwin University to see if we can help you accomplish the career your heart desires most!