Are Nonclinical Jobs Under Threat From or Going Away With AI?
Over the last few years, nonclinical jobs have become increasingly popular in our online communities for doctors as burnout increases and physician demographics change. However, much like the job market within many companies is shifting secondary to increasing use of AI, many nonclinical roles may face threats of elimination because of the ability for these roles to be done by artificial intelligence models. Below, we’ll cover which roles are more susceptible to being replaced by AI, which jobs (for now) seem to remain in demand, and how physicians should take these factors into consideration, particularly if considering a switch from clinical medicine to the non-clinical space..
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Will nonclinical jobs for physicians be replaced or otherwise threatened by the increasing use of AI?
There’s probably no job (including traditional physician jobs) which won’t see some effects from the increasing use of AI, and nonclinical jobs are no exception. However, depending on the responsibilities of each position, it’s clear that not all non-clinical jobs are equally threatened.
When looking at the nonclinical realm as a whole, it seems likely that AI will compress the total number of positions needed to perform these roles. That said, it’s unlikely that it will eliminate the roles entirely given that many of these jobs require accountability, judgment, clinical experience, relationships or networks, and/or leadership skills. There will also be a need to both train and govern the AI.
Learn more about nonclinical careers for physicians.
Which non-clinical roles are more vulnerable to being eliminated because of AI?
Several nonclinical jobs rely on physicians who know evidence based guidelines applying their knowledge and protocols to situations, reviewing information, and producing recommendations. The more these jobs follow prototypes rather than clinical judgment or experience, the more likely they are to have at least a portion of the job replaced by AI. Examples of these roles include:
Utilization management
Other chart review positions
Disability reviews
Medical necessity determination
Clinical documentation and coding (CDI)
Some prior authorization related work
Some pharmaceutical roles, particularly those that involve protocols and algorithms, such as safety roles, writing jobs, or basic medical affairs tasks
The fact is that AI is already involved in clinical notes, generating summaries, prior authorizations, and documentation type work. As AI gets more proficient at these tasks, it’s likely that instead of requiring 10 people to do reviews, there may only need to be 2-3 people to oversee the work that AI has already taken a first pass at.
The TL:DR is that the sky is not falling, but the more interesting thing will be what extra skills will be needed to qualify for non-clinical jobs. There are many non-clinical jobs these days where the only eligibility is having graduated from medical school, being board certified, or having practiced medicine for a few years. If the role of these physicians was to enforce protocols, help with CDI, or other more algorithmic tasks, the availability of these jobs may more be vulnerable to being significantly limited.
What non-clinical jobs may actually be more in demand because of the increasing role of AI in healthcare?
Interestingly, the fact that AI is exploding has also opened up so many additional roles and needs for physicians familiar and comfortable with technology. Similarly, strategic roles may have more value as healthcare systems look to incorporate technology. Some roles that could be in increasing demand include:
Chief innovation officer (CIO), CMO, or CMIO roles
Medical director roles
Healthcare AI governance or compliance roles
Clinical informatics
Operations roles
Quality/safety roles that are more strategic and less algorithmic
Strategic roles
Consulting roles
Leadership roles
Executive roles
Unlike somebody that may review charts and say that a certain percentage of them met the criteria for payment (an automatable task), those that are responsible for strategy, execution, leadership, and workflow design are much more likely to widely needed as AI advances.
Therefore, we may see a shift towards job descriptions for nonclinical jobs requiring not "just" a medical degree, but also seeking physicians who have expertise in multiple realms in addition to their clinical knowledge. This may include operational or leadership experience, related degrees, or institutional or corporate connections.
How should this affect decisions when looking at options in the nonclinical realm?
We often talk about how it’s important not to run away from something (clinical medicine), but instead run towards something of interest when making career changes or decisions. This is becoming increasingly important. You don’t want to take the first nonclinical job that you see hiring in your specialty. Rather, play the long game. Ask yourself which jobs that you’re seeing both utilize your medical expertise as well as entail work that AI can’t easily commoditize.
Additionally, the physicians that are going to be in most demand for these jobs where AI will be supporting their work are going to be those that are the most familiar and comfortable with AI. Do your research, learn about AI, and play around with different tools so you can also come to the table with ideas for efficiency. You’ll be a much more attractive hire this way.
Conclusion
It’d be very hard to say that AI won’t affect jobs in the nonclinical realm, particularly as many nonclinical careers involve some sort of chart review or other corrections or compliance based functions that involve prototypes and algorithms. These sorts of positions will likely hire less physicians, but there will still be a need for physicians to oversee the work of AI agents, make corrections, or help iterate models. Given the already existing competition for nonclinical work, we anticipate that the job market for these positions will get increasingly complicated with additional recruitment criteria. Remember, the best thing you can do is to ensure that you add value over these models, whether it’s because of customer success, strategic or leadership qualities, long term clinical experience, or otherwise.
Related nonclinical resources for physicians
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