Technology is increasingly woven into every aspect of healthcare, changing how healthcare professionals do their jobs and improving patient outcomes. Here are a few key ways technology is playing a role in healthcare jobs:
- Telehealth and Remote Care: Telemedicine has become mainstream. Many doctors, nurses, and therapists now regularly conduct virtual consultations via video. In 2025, about 54% of Americans have had a telehealth visit:contentReference[oaicite:88]{index=88}, a testament to how common it’s become. This means healthcare workers need to be adept at using telehealth platforms and managing patient care remotely. New roles, like telehealth coordinators or remote patient monitoring nurses, have emerged to support this shift.
- Electronic Health Records (EHRs): Paper charts are largely a thing of the past. Doctors and nurses spend a significant portion of their day interacting with EHR systems (like Epic or Cerner). These digital records improve coordination—any authorized provider can quickly access a patient’s history, lab results, or imaging. Healthcare professionals have had to develop IT skills to document care, retrieve information, and even analyze patient data trends via EHRs. Informatics nurses and health information technicians specialize in optimizing these systems for better care delivery.
- AI and Diagnostics: Artificial Intelligence is assisting in diagnosing and decision-making. AI algorithms can analyze medical images (X-rays, MRIs) to flag abnormalities—e.g., helping radiologists detect tumors more quickly. They also help in predictive analytics: for instance, AI can identify patients at high risk for complications so clinicians can intervene early. While AI doesn’t replace healthcare professionals, it changes their workflow. A radiologist might spend more time on complex cases and verifying AI-marked findings. Training in how to interpret and trust AI outputs is becoming part of medical education.
- Medical Devices and Wearables: Modern healthcare jobs often involve working with advanced medical devices. Surgeons use robotic surgery systems (like the Da Vinci robot) where they guide robotic arms for precise operations—requiring specialized training in robotic technology. Meanwhile, patients increasingly use wearable devices (heart rate monitors, glucose sensors) that send data to healthcare providers. Nurses and physicians must learn to incorporate data from wearables into care plans. New roles in device management and patient tech education (teaching patients how to use an insulin pump or a fitness tracker for health monitoring) have grown.
Overall, technology in healthcare aims to enhance efficiency and quality of care. It means that healthcare professionals today must be tech-savvy. Many hospitals offer training to staff on new tools (for example, how to conduct a virtual visit effectively or use a new EHR feature). For those entering healthcare, an openness to technology and even basic IT skills can be a big advantage. The human touch—compassion, critical thinking—remains irreplaceable, but being able to leverage cutting-edge technology is now a core part of delivering the best possible patient care.
