Will AI replace medical secretaries and administrative assistants?

Parts of the job are being automated. About 2h 57m of an 8-hour shift goes to tasks that AI or robots already do largely on their own. The rest still needs a person. The breakdown: 7m done by people with AI help, 2h 57m that AI mostly does alone. The other 4h 57m (62%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 4.8% more of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

AI shows up regularly in 4 of 15 tasks, about 3h 4m of a typical shift. The biggest ones:

• Answer telephones and direct calls to appropriate staff. (1h 22m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)
• Schedule and confirm patient diagnostic appointments, surgeries, or medical consultations. (1h 9m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)
• Compile and record medical charts, reports, or correspondence, using typewriter or personal computer. (25m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)
• Prepare correspondence or assist physicians or medical scientists with preparation of reports, speeches, articles, or conference proceedings. (6m a shift, people use AI to help)

Not in workplaces like this one, based on a 2026 review of robot deployments. 1 more task has only been done in factory setups built around the machine, so it stays with people here.

4h 57m of a typical shift, or 62%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. No AI usage or robot deployment has shown up for these so far. The biggest:

• Greet visitors, ascertain purpose of visit, and direct them to appropriate staff. (51m a shift)
• Complete insurance or other claim forms. (32m a shift)
• Maintain medical records, technical library, or correspondence files. (32m a shift)
• Receive and route messages or documents, such as laboratory results, to appropriate staff. (32m a shift)
• Perform bookkeeping duties, such as credits or collections, preparing and sending financial statements or bills, and keeping financial records. (32m a shift)

We track 5 sourced company moves that affect this job. Most recent:

• Sep 14, 2026: VA expands AI scribes after use in over 986,000 appointments (Rolling out)
• Jul 31, 2026: Intermountain automates 44% of repetitive patient calls with AI agents (Rolling out)
• Jul 30, 2026: WellSpan's AI voice agent handles over 160,000 patient calls a month (Rolling out)

For the 2 tasks in this job where AI shows up and timing data exists, a typical request takes about 3h 16m for a person alone and about 29m with AI. These are Claude's own estimates from real conversations in April and May 2026 (Anthropic Economic Index). They describe single requests, not whole workdays, and time saved on a task doesn't mean jobs are cut. The biggest gaps:

• Compile and record medical charts, reports, or correspondence, using typewriter or personal computer (about 4h 12m alone, 23m with AI)
• Prepare correspondence or assist physicians or medical scientists with preparation of reports, speeches, articles, or conference proceedings (about 2h 20m alone, 34m with AI)

On Indeed, job postings in the Medical Information sector are at 89% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), down 6.4% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. BLS separately expects about 89,000 openings a year in this job through 2035. Across all U.S. postings, 7.3% now mention AI skills. Sector postings cover more than this one job and move for many reasons besides AI.

The median pay is about $45,930 a year ($22.08 an hour), 10% below the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $35,930 and $60,530 a year; that range covers the middle 80%. Pay figures are from BLS, May 2025, and vary a lot by state and employer.

BLS projects growth of 4.8% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 1 million jobs in 2035. It expects about 89,000 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 962,000 people in the U.S., roughly 0.62% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 39th largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 1 million in 2035.

The most common requirement is a high school diploma: about 48% of people in the job said so in the official O*NET survey. O*NET rates the job at level 2 of 5 for preparation, which usually means: high school diploma, some training. Requirements vary by state and employer, especially for licensed work.

These come from the job's official skill ratings and from the tasks that AI and robots touch least today. Building them keeps you strong in the parts of the work that still need a person:

• Skills that matter more here than in most jobs: Service Orientation, Speaking, Active Listening, Time Management
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 4h 57m of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: Microsoft Office software, Henry Schein Dentrix, eClinicalWorks EHR software, Epic Systems, Google Docs
• Learn to use AI well on the tasks where it already shows up in this job (listed above)

These use similar skills. Matches come from 109 official ratings of skills, knowledge and work activities, and each needs the same or less preparation unless the official list relates the jobs directly:

• Receptionists and Information Clerks (3h 40m touched, $38k median pay)
• Secretaries and Administrative Assistants (3h 53m touched, $48k median pay)
• General Office Clerks (4h 30m touched, $45k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 4 observed in real AI use, 11 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.