Will medical secretaries be replaced by AI?
Updated
Medical secretaries score 65 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 48%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 44% outright, and 8% stays with people.
- 44% AI can do it
- 48% AI helps
- 8% Needs a person
High exposure
Higher than 96% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 15 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 7 of them today, speeds up 7 and leaves 1 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Schedule and confirm patient diagnostic appointments, surgeries, or medical consultations. Scheduling and confirmation run well on automated tools. | 75% AI can do it |
| Transcribe recorded messages or practitioners' diagnoses or recommendations into patients' medical records. Ambient scribes and speech-to-text transcribe dictation into records. | 75% AI can do it |
| Compile and record medical charts, reports, or correspondence, using typewriter or personal computer. AI generates chart entries and reports from structured inputs. | 70% AI can do it |
| Prepare correspondence or assist physicians or medical scientists with preparation of reports, speeches, articles, or conference proceedings. LLMs draft reports and correspondence, physicians still lead. | 70% AI helps |
| Answer telephones and direct calls to appropriate staff. AI voice agents can answer and route calls today. | 65% AI can do it |
| Complete insurance or other claim forms. AI drafts claim forms from chart data for review. | 65% AI can do it |
| Receive and route messages or documents, such as laboratory results, to appropriate staff. Rules and AI triage can route results and messages. | 65% AI can do it |
| Schedule tests or procedures for patients, such as lab work or x-rays, based on physician orders. Order-based test scheduling is rules-driven and software-automatable. | 65% AI can do it |
| Operate office equipment, such as voice mail messaging systems, and use word processing, spreadsheet, or other software applications to prepare reports, invoices, financial statements, letters, case histories, or medical records. LLMs and office software speed report and document preparation. | 60% AI helps |
| Perform bookkeeping duties, such as credits or collections, preparing and sending financial statements or bills, and keeping financial records. Billing software and AI handle statements, staff handle exceptions. | 60% AI helps |
Show the other 5 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Maintain medical records, technical library, or correspondence files. AI can index and classify records, staff still oversee filing. | 55% AI helps |
| Transmit correspondence or medical records by mail, e-mail, or fax. Digital sending is automatable but physical mailing and faxing persist. | 50% AI helps |
| Perform various clerical or administrative functions, such as ordering and maintaining an inventory of supplies. Automated reorder tools help, physical stock checks remain manual. | 50% AI helps |
| Interview patients to complete documents, case histories, or forms, such as intake or insurance forms. Digital intake forms help, but live interviews need a person. | 45% AI helps |
| Greet visitors, ascertain purpose of visit, and direct them to appropriate staff. Greeting visitors needs physical presence and live interaction. | 15% Needs a person |
How medical secretaries compare
All occupations (923)
Office and administrative support (51)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $45,930 a year, May 2025
- People employed
- 961,610 in the US, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- +4.8% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Check AI-drafted insurance claim forms against chart data
- Transcribe practitioner diagnoses into records with terminology accuracy
- Run live patient intake interviews for case histories
- Count physical supply stock and check reorders in Excel
- Enter and reconcile patient billing in Henry Schein Dentrix
- Route visitors and calls to the right clinical staff
Safer roles nearby
5 related occupations with lower scores.
Questions about medical secretaries and AI
Will AI replace medical secretaries?
Partly. About 6 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly scheduling appointments and transcribing records into charts. Patient interviews, greeting visitors, and final checks on medical records stay with people.
Which medical secretary tasks is AI taking over?
Transcribing diagnoses into records scores 75 for exposure, and scheduling and confirming appointments also scores 75. Ambient scribes and speech-to-text already write dictation into records, and AI voice agents answer and route calls at a score of 65.
Which medical secretary tasks stay human?
Greeting visitors scores 15, the lowest exposure in the job, because it needs physical presence and live interaction. Live patient interviews for case histories score 45, since digital intake forms help but an interview still needs a person to ask and listen.
How can medical secretaries stay valuable?
Check AI-drafted insurance claim forms against chart data before they are sent. Run live intake interviews and physical supply counts, the parts that stay manual. Use Microsoft Excel to track reorder exceptions and billing errors in Henry Schein Dentrix.
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