Will AI replace Medical Equipment Preparers?
Estimated risk score: 28 out of 100
Lower replacement risk
Estimate from published task research, not reviewed by a person · how we estimate
Within about 19 points for 4 in 5 of the jobs we checked (9 to 47).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 16 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 31-9093.00 · Healthcare Support
Tasks rated in 2023 as ones AI could do or speed up
Tasks a GPT-4-class model could do, or do in half the time or less: 2 of its 16 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Record sterilizer test results.
- Maintain records of inventory or equipment usage and order medical instruments or supplies when inventory is low.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 14 of its 16 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Clean instruments to prepare them for sterilization.
- Examine equipment to detect leaks, worn or loose parts, or other indications of disrepair.
- Organize and assemble routine or specialty surgical instrument trays or other sterilized supplies, filling special requests as needed.
- Stock crash carts or other medical supplies.
- Attend hospital in-service programs related to areas of work specialization.
- Check sterile supplies to ensure that they are not outdated.
What the job is
Prepare, sterilize, install, or clean laboratory or healthcare equipment. May perform routine laboratory tasks and operate or inspect equipment.
Also called: Central Service Technician (CST), Central Sterile Supply Technician (CSS Technician), Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST), MRA, CRCST, CSPDT, SPD Tech, Hot Packer.
Source. This site includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. (O*NET, CC BY 4.0.) Task ratings: Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock (2023), “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”, data used under the MIT licence (licence texts). Our change: we averaged the ratings over this occupation’s tasks and calibrated them to our 0–100 scale. It is not a prediction about any one person and not career advice. Disagree? Write to hello@yourstopwashit.com. How we estimate