Dr. Roboto will see you now: Will AI and technology replace healthcare workers?

I read a lot of articles about technology and its potential to replace human labor. This seems to be already happening in the manufacturing, transportation, and even entertainment industries. But what about healthcare? As a physician, who is especially interested in the healthcare economy, I used to think that the idea my colleagues and I could be replaced by smart robotic technology was something I need not worry about.

Then, I got to thinking about the changes I’ve seen in the four decades over which I’ve practiced medicine. Changes that have only accelerated during the Coronavirus pandemic as telehealth and other innovations have totally changed the look and feel of medical practice.

I’m not a surgeon, but I’m well aware that almost all surgeries are now done through small incisions and the assistance of a wide variety of scope devices — endoscopes, laparoscopes, arthroscopes, thoracoscopes, and others — allow surgeons to peer into the body with minimal harm to non-diseased tissues. Robotic surgery is commonplace in most hospitals, where surgeons literally operate via consoles remote from the patient. Some of my surgical colleagues liken this to playing a video game and actually claim that their operative skills can be improved through time spent on the PS 5 rather than in OR 5.

Decision support tools are now embedded into many medical record systems and available as separate apps in my own internal medicine specialty. These tools have great promise to assist with some of the greatest challenges in medicine, such as making the correct diagnoses and developing the most up-to-date treatment regimens.

Finally, it’s not just physicians and surgeons who are being replaced or assisted by technology, AI, or machine learning systems. Lab techs have long utilized automated systems to perform sophisticated testing. Nurses increasingly rely on devices to continuously monitor vital signs and other critical factors, such as blood oxygen levels and EKG rhythms. Many patients are sent home from the hospital with implanted IV devices. They can use these devices to self-administer medications and rely on implanted pacemakers/defibrillators to monitor their heart rhythm and deliver life-saving shocks should a potentially fatal cardiac rhythm disturbance develop.

The question then becomes, can any of this gee-whiz technology disrupt the healthcare economy's labor force? Factory workers have long feared robots will replace them. Should healthcare workers fear the same? Could one physician like myself leverage technology to deliver care via remote hookups while also providing reliably accurate care to more patients per unit of time.

So, if even healthcare workers are not immune from being displaced by technology, what will happen to the growing percentage of the labor force that is no longer needed to perform routine or even complex tasks? Will something like a universal basic income (UBI) be needed to keep this segment of the populace financially afloat when jobs are no longer available? Will these workers feel liberated or suffer anxiety and depression when they no longer are required to work, doing what they previously considered meaningful tasks.

Again, I used to think this was not something the healthcare sector of the economy would ever have to face. Now, I’m not so sure. Given the pace of change, even highly trained healthcare professionals might find themselves displaced.