Healthcare is sidestepping the AI-related job cuts affecting other industries. For the time being, at least.
As the unemployment rate for college graduates ticks up and hiring in sectors that employ white-collar workers slows, at the same time executives warn about mass job replacements from AI, healthcare has largely been spared, The Wall Street Journal reported Dec. 16.
Job openings in software development and marketing are at about 68% and 81% of their prepandemic levels, respectively, according to a Journal analysis of Indeed data. “Job postings in healthcare — where it is a lot harder to replace workers with AI — have held up much better,” the newspaper reported.
In fact, all the healthcare roles tracked by Indeed — medical technician, nursing, personal care and home health, pharmacy, physicians and surgeons, and therapy — are up from February 2020, except for medical information, which is down 4%.
But health system executives say AI is supplanting roles in healthcare now — and will continue to do so in the years ahead.
“AI is not just coming for healthcare — it’s already here,” Sunil Dadlani, executive vice president and chief information, digital and cybersecurity officer of Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health System, told Becker’s in August.
“From clinical decision support to revenue cycle automation, AI is already augmenting workflows, accelerating diagnosis, and streamlining administrative tasks. Roles in medical coding, documentation, scheduling, and even elements of diagnostics are increasingly supported — or replaced — by intelligent systems.”
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