mckinsey -医疗行业真正的职场未来 The real future of work in healthcare

七

Healthcare

Q

Therealfutureofworkinhealthcare

July2,2026|Article

By

LiHan

,

MichaelElliott

,

PoojaKumar

,and

YenliWong

Healthcareisinaproductivitycrisisthatmorehiringandmoretechnologyalonewillnotsolve.Thenexteraofcaredependsonmakingautomationwork

throughhuman–AIworkflows.

laborproductivityinclinical-careorganizationshasdeclined

U

Shealthcarefacesaparadox.Overthepasttwodecades,

roughly1percent,whileproductivityacrossthebroaderUSserviceseconomyhasincreasedmorethan55percent(Exhibit1)[

1

]Inotherindustries,technologyadvancesovertheyearshavedriven

meaningfulproductivitygainsbytransformingentireoperating

modelsandworkflows,notjustdigitizingisolatedtasks.Bycontrast,healthcareorganizationshavelongpursuedincremental

improvementswithoutachievingcomparableproductivitygainsfromtechnologyandautomation.

Exhibit1

productivityinUsclinical-careorganizationshasdeclinedsince1998,whileproductivityinotherservicesindustrieshasimproved.

'AChained2017dollarseriesiscalculatedastheproductofthechaintypequantityindexandthe2017current-dollarvalueofthecorrespondingseries,dividedby100.

2Industriesincludedareeducation,informationanddataprocessingservices,insurance,legalservices,professionalservices,realestateandrentalandleasing,retailtrade,transportationandwarehousing,andwastemanagementandremediationservice.

source:UsBureauofEconomicAnalysis(accessedbetweenMarandApr2025)

Mckinsey&company

Oneoftheclearestexamplesofthistransformationcanbeseenin

warehouses,whererobotsdeliverproductsdirectlytoworkersratherthanworkersbeingforcedtowalkmileseachshift,andeachtaskisautomatedinrealtime.Theimprovementisdramatic:twofoldto

fourfoldproductivitygains[

2

]withsomewarehouseoperators

reporting20-fold-plusincreasesinoutputperworkeroverthepastdecade.[

3

]

Healthcaretellsadifferenttale.Theindustryisautomating

inefficiencyfasterthanitiseliminatingit:moretechnology,more

people,yetlessoutputperunitoflabor.USclinical-care

organizationsnowinvestmorethan$150billionannuallyinIT,[

4

]yetfacecompoundingcostsandmargincompression.Theseoutcomesreflectnotonlyexecutionchallengesbutalsotherealitiesof

deliveringhigh-stakescarewithinafragmented,highlyregulated

system.Healthcarehasalsolongacceptedthatproductivity

improvementsarefundamentallylimitedbythelabor-intensivenatureofcaredelivery[

5

]Forthefirsttime,however,AIcreatesan

opportunitytoredesignhowcareisdeliveredandhowsharedservicesfunction,overcomingthehistoricalbarrierlinkinglaborinputsandoutput.

Thefutureofworkinhealthcare,therefore,shouldnotbea

technologystoryalone.Itmustbeastoryofoperating-model

transformationenabledbytechnology.Improvingmargins,aswellasenhancingpatientaccess,experience,andoutcomes,willrequire

substantiallaborproductivitygainsacrossclinical-careorganizations,farbeyondwhatincremental

improvementsfrompointsolutions

orisolatedpilotscandeliver.Instead,interventionsthatprovide40to

50percentend-to-endimprovementsinprocessesandfunctionsareneeded,basedonourexperience.

Whatdoesittaketorewireanoperatingmodel?

Toachievemeaningfulproductivitygains,clinical-careorganizationsneedtorethinkbothcaredeliveryfunctionsandsharedservices.

Committoaboldredesignofcaredelivery

Overthepasttwodecades,USclinical-careorganizationshave

expandedtheirworkforcesteadilyatapproximately2to3percent

annually,addingmorethanfivemillionclinicalroles.[

6

]Yetincreasedhiringhasnottranslatedintocommensurateimprovementsinaccess.[

7

]Thesystem’sprimaryconstraintisnotworkforcecapacity;rather,itistheabsenceofamodelforhowcaredeliveryworkshouldbe

done.

OrganizationsneedtotakeadifferentapproachtoleadinprocessredesignandAIenablement.Forexample,inamedicalsurgicalunit,asubstantialshareofroutinetasks(suchasdocumentation,care

coordination,andnonessentialadministrativesteps)canbe

eliminated,automated,orreassigned.Inthetraditionalcaredeliverymodel,a25-bedmedicalsurgicalunitwouldhaveroughlyone

registerednurse(RN)foreveryfivepatients,alongwithonepatientcaretechnician(PCT)foreverytento15patients.

AredesignedmodelcouldallowforfewerRNsneededperpatient

andmorelower-licensedclinicalstafflikePCTs.Andinsteadof

relyingsolelyonin-personroles,thefuturestatecouldincorporate

virtualRNssharedacrossunitsand

toolslikeambient

documentation

.Thiswouldallowteamstoredistributework,operatemoreefficiently,expandcare,ensurecarequality,andadapttohourlypatientvolumefluctuations.Caregiversatisfactionandsenseof

purposealsodeepens,withsomesystemsseeingfirst-yearRNturnoverfallbymorethan60percent.[

8

]

Organizationsthattransformtheircaremodelscanseelaborcost

improvementsthatexceed20percent,inourexperience.These

gains,however,onlyemergefromthecoordinatedredesignof

workflows,technology,andstaffing.Implementingisolatedchanges,suchasaddingpointsolutionswithoutredesigningcareprocessesoradjustingstaffingmodels,caninsteadreduceproductivity,increase

caregiverburden,andcreatenewworkforcechallenges,limitingorevenreversingtheintendedbenefits.

Makesharedservicesworkforyou,nottheotherwayround

Redesigningclinical-caredeliveryisonlypartoftheequation.Youcannotrunatop-of-licenseclinicalmodelonabottom-of-license

shared-servicessystem.Forexample,manyhumanresources

businesspartnersspendsubstantialtimeonadministrativetasks

suchasresolvingpayrollerrorsandprocessingtransactions,ratherthanfocusingonhigher-valueworksuchasworkforcestrategyandtalentplanning.Sowhatdoesitmeanforsharedservicestooperateatthetopoftheirlicense?

Historically,organizationsimprovedsharedservicesproductivitybyoffshoringoroutsourcingback-officefunctionstolower-costlabormarkets.Today,organizationsareinsteadstandardizingprocesses,centralizingfragmentedwork,andembeddingAIandautomation

directlyintooperations.Theresult,ourexperienceshows,is

improvedproductivitythatcanlowercostsandenhancecontrolofprocesses,acceleratedecision-making,andkeepstrategic

capabilitiesandvaluecreationclosertotheenterprise.

Thestakesarehigh.Administrativefunctionsaccountfor15to25

percentofspending,[

9

]andUShealthsystemsemployroughlytwiceasmanyadministrativestaffasphysiciansandnursescombined[

10

]Whileupto50percentofadministrativeworkcannowbe

automated,onereasonmostorganizationsfailtorealizethebenefitsofautomationisbecausetheylayerAIontobroken,antiquated

workflows.

Thesolutiontakesthreeforms.First,organizationsmustsolvefortheworkoftomorrow,nottoday.Forexample,ratherthanrelyingon

fragmentedworkflowsandhuman-ledprocessing,leading

organizationsareredesigningtheHRfunctionaroundautonomous,AI-enabledworkflowssupportedbyhumans.Routineactivitiessuchascandidatescreening,initialinterviews,onboardingtasks,and

employeeinquiriesareincreasinglyexecutedbyAIagents,allowingHRteamstofocusonacceleratingskillsdevelopment,buildinganadaptivetalentecosystem,andstrengtheningculture.

Second,systemsmusteliminateunnecessaryworkbefore

automatingaprocessordomain.

Inrevenuecyclemanagement

(RCM),routineactivitiessuchaspaymentpostingandappeals

managementareincreasinglybeingtargetedforautomationsothathumanteamscanfocusonexceptionsandcomplexpayer

interactions.Organizationstypicallybeginbydeployingagentic

workflowsinlower-riskback-officefunctionsbeforeexpanding

acrossthebroaderrevenuecycletomovetowardamoretouchless,end-to-endoperatingmodel.Inourexperience,thepayoffis

transformational:upto40percentproductivitygains,fastercycletimes,andamateriallyleaner,faster,andmoreresilientRCM

operation.[

11

]

Finally,sharedservicesmustsupportthepatientjourneyinamore

integratedway.Patientsoftennavigatefragmentedsystemsacrossscheduling,billing,referrals,andcaredelivery.Inthefuturemodel,

thesefunctionsbecomemanagedthroughcontinuous,concierge-

likenavigationlayers.Intelligentagentsproactivelyguidepatients

acrossadministrative,clinical,andfinancialworkflows,whilefinancialspecialistsstepinformorecomplexorhigh-touchinteractions.

AccordingtoMcKinseyGlobalInstituteanalysis,theresultisamoreseamlesspatientexperiencealongsidemateriallylower

administrativeburdenandoperatingcosts,aswellasimprovedproductivity(Exhibit2).

Exhibit2

clinical-careorganizationscanachieve25to50percentproductivitygainsinsharedservicesthroughredesignedworkandAlenablement.

Average10-yearproductivityimprovementforUsclinical-careorganizations,bykeyfunctions,%

source:MckinseyGlobalInstituteanalysis

Mckinsey&company

Howcanrolesandskillsbe

redefinedfortheworkforceofthefuture?

Automation,

agentification

,andcorrespondingworkflowchange

alonewillnotalterhealthcare’seconomics.Removing20percentoftasksfromarolerarelyremoves20percentofthecosts.Inmost

cases,theemployeeisredeployedtofocusontop-of-licensework,

andtheorganizationalsoincursanaddedtechnologyexpense.That’sbecausevery

fewrolesareautomatableendtoend

(Exhibit3).Mostjobssitinthemiddle:Sometaskscanshifttoagentsorotherforms

ofautomation,whileothersrequireclinicaljudgment,human

coordination,andcontextualdecision-making.Thatdistinctionmatters.Partialautomationcreatescapacity,butitdoesnot

immediatelychangethecoststructure.

Exhibit3

people,agents,androbotswilallplaymeaningfulrolesinthehealthcaredeliveryworkforceofthefuture.

'Automationpotentialisbasedoncurrentcapabilitiesoftechnologytoperformhumanwork.Automationpotentialshownisthelatescenarioofexpertestimates.Theearlyscenarioofglobaltechnicalautomationpotentialrangesfrom60%to70%ofcurrentworkhours.

source:O*NETonLine,UsDepartmentofLabor;UsBureauofLaborstatistics;currentpopulationsurvey,UscensusBureau;MckinseyGlobalInstituteanalysis

Mckinsey&company

Whilesomeworkforcedisplacementislikely,healthcarecontinuestofaceshortagesinmanycriticalroles.Organizationsthatredesign

workeffectivelycanuseAI-enabledproductivitygainstoreduce

administrativeburden,improveworkforcesustainability,and

reallocatecapacitytohigher-valuepatientcareandcoordination.

Donewell,thiscanexpandaccess,improvepatientoutcomesand

experience,andincreasecliniciansatisfactionbyenablingmoretimefordirectpatientcare.

Capturingvaluerequiresamorefundamentalredefinitionofroles.Asautomationremovesroutinetasks,theremainingworkmustbe

reallocatedintobroader,higher-valueroles.Inambulatorycare,thefutureoperatingmodelcannotcontinuetorelyonfragmented

handoffsamongpatientservicerepresentatives,medicalassistants,financialnavigators,andsocialworkers.Asintelligentagents

increasinglyabsorbroutinescheduling,billing,referral,and

coordinationactivities,organizationscaninsteadconsolidatetheseresponsibilitiesintoanintegratedrole,suchasacarecontinuity

partner(CCP),whoservesastheprimarycoordinatoracrossthe

patientjourneyandisempoweredbytechnologytodelivermorepersonalized,predictive,andhuman-centeredoutcomes.

EnabledbyAI,CCPscouldcoordinateacrossclinicalandoperationalteams,resolveescalatedbarrierstocare,andserveasthetrusted

humanrelationshipthroughoutthepatientexperience.Ineffect,

CCPscouldbecomethehumancontrollayerforanAI-enabled

ambulatoryoperatingmodel.Consolidatingcarecoordination,

financialnavigation,andsocialsupportintoasingleredesignedrolehasthepotentialtoincreaseproductivity,lowerno-showrates,

improvepriorauthorizationaccuracy,andextendcliniciancapacity—withoutaddinglicensedfull-timeequivalents.

Butreshapingrolesisonlypartoftheequation.Capturingvaluerequiresnewcapabilitiesinhumanjudgment,cross-functional

collaboration,andhuman–AIorchestration.Italsoraises

expectationsformanagers,whomustdirectandevaluatebothAIagentsandhumanteams.

Productivitygainsmusttranslateintostructuralchangesinstaffing,organizationallayers,andspansofcontrol.Withoutthosechanges,organizationssimplyaddtechnologyontopofexistingcosts.

Whatturnsurgencyintoenterpriseaction?

Whereleadersstartmattersasmuchaswhattechnologiesthey

deploy.Mostorganizationsmovetooquicklytoautomation,pilotingtoolsacrossfragmentedworkflowsandexpectingmaterial

improvement.Thatrarelyworks.

Successrequiresthree

leadershipchoices

:definingtheambitionbydecidingwheretoact,howboldtobe,andwhatlevelofperformanceimprovementjustifiesinvestment;alig