Healthcare Social Workers
Provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses. Services include advising family caregivers. Provide patients with information and counseling, and make referrals for other services. May also provide case and care management or interventions designed to promote health, prevent disease, and address barriers to access to healthcare.
187,630 people do this job in the US. $67,880 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 76%
- 24%
- 1%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 37%. Today's estimate: 42%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 17 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conduct social research to advance knowledge in the social work field.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 21% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.5 work weeks | 0%Half by Apr 2029 | |
| Collaborate with other professionals to evaluate patients' medical or physical condition and to assess client needs.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 9% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Utilize consultation data and social work experience to plan and coordinate client or patient care and rehabilitation, following through to ensure service efficacy.Done daily by most who do it. | 9% | 1.7 h38 min to 2.5 h | 90%Half by now | |
| Plan and conduct programs to combat social problems, prevent substance abuse, or improve community health and counseling services.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 2%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Develop or advise on social policy and assist in community development.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | Stays with people | |
| Advocate for clients or patients to resolve crises.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 7% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 77%Half by now | |
| Oversee Medicaid- and Medicare-related paperwork and recordkeeping in hospitals.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | 80%Half by now | |
| Identify environmental impediments to client or patient progress through interviews and review of patient records.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.1 h | 95%Half by now | |
| Plan discharge from care facility to home or other care facility.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | 72%Half by now | |
| Supervise and direct other workers providing services to clients or patients.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress according to measurable goals described in treatment and care plan.Done several times a day by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | 98%Half by now | |
| Refer patient, client, or family to community resources to assist in recovery from mental or physical illness and to provide access to services such as financial assistance, legal aid, housing, job placement or education.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | 98%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers21% now, 44% by 2028
- Mental Health Counselors65% now, 67% by 2028
- Child, Family, and School Social Workers35% now, 52% by 2028
- Marriage and Family Therapists57% now, 65% by 2028
- Rehabilitation Counselors66% now, 79% by 2028
- Social and Human Service Assistants44% now, 46% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).