The health care sector is a major employer in the United States, providing critical medical services through hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other facilities. In 2019, the industry employed over 21 million people across 477 occupations. However, new technologies are emerging that could substantially change health care jobs in the coming years.
According to the article, past innovations like the telephone enabled remote diagnosis and made accessing medical expertise more convenient. The evolution from paper records to electronic health records (EHRs) also transformed clinical documentation practices. Interoperability between different EHR systems remains an ongoing challenge.
Looking ahead, the article describes various technologies that could alter health care roles:
- Assistive devices for elderly patients like walkers, electric lifts, and eating aids that reduce the need for human assistance
- Portable devices for remotely monitoring vitals like heart rate and blood pressure
- Tiny nanomachines and microrobots that can operate inside the human body
- Robotic surgical systems that enable minimally invasive procedures
- Prescription dispensing robots and autonomous delivery robots for handling pharmaceuticals and lab specimens
- Video conferencing and telemedicine software so doctors can remotely diagnose patients
Despite these innovations, the article predicts 80% of health care jobs will not be fully automatable due to the need for compassion, emotional support, and human judgment in caring for patients. Clinical roles like physicians, nurses, aides, and physical therapists are unlikely to be displaced entirely. Healthcare managers and technologists will also be needed to oversee new technologies.
However, administrative occupations like receptionists, billing clerks, and medical secretaries could decline as automated kiosks and software handle more scheduling, data entry, and billing tasks. The nature of record-keeping roles may also shift from data collection to data analysis.
Rather than replacing health workers, new technologies can augment human capabilities and allow staff to focus more on direct patient care. But the sector must proactively address worker anxiety and offer retraining programs to smooth the transition. Though some job losses seem inevitable, wise implementation of automation can improve medicine while supporting the health care workforce.
