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Honoring the Professionals Who Keep Healthcare Moving

Celebrating Allied Health Week 2025

Each November, the healthcare industry and beyond come together to honor allied health professionals. During Allied Health Week, the healthcare community celebrates the people who serve as the backbone of modern medicine. Allied health professionals have the technical expertise, compassion, and commitment that are critical to patient care. The role of an allied health professional makes a measurable difference in patient care every single day.

At StaffDNA, we know firsthand that healthcare doesn’t begin and end with physicians and nurses. It thrives because of the thousands of allied health professionals who diagnose, rehabilitate, analyze, and support patient care across every setting. This week, we proudly honor their vital contributions and spotlight the critical roles they play in keeping our healthcare system running strong.

The foundation of modern medical care

Allied health professionals represent one of the most diverse and impactful segments of the medical field. They include more than 80 distinct career paths, from respiratory therapists and radiologic technologists to clinical laboratory scientists, medical assistants, and speech-language pathologists. Together, these professionals are over 12 million strong and make up nearly 60% of the U.S. healthcare workforce.

That means that for every healthcare encounter, from diagnosis and laboratory results to surgery and rehabilitation, some aspect of patient care is shaped by an allied professional. They are the scientists behind the data, the specialists behind every image, and the therapists guiding recovery one step at a time. Depending on their role, allied health professionals may provide patient education, support surgical teams, perform diagnostics, assist in rehabilitation, or manage administrative functions. Every contribution supports a patient’s healthcare journey in some way.

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Rising demand and career opportunities

The need for allied health professionals has never been greater. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in allied health occupations is projected to grow 13% by 2031 — a rate significantly faster than the national average across all industries. An aging population drives this surge, increased demand for diagnostic services, and rapid advances in medical technology.

Hospitals, outpatient centers, telehealth services, and home-care programs all depend on skilled allied professionals to fill critical roles. Imaging technologists are implementing AI-driven diagnostic tools, respiratory therapists are advancing post-acute care outcomes, and physical therapists are helping patients regain independence faster than ever.

Yet, with rising demand comes a challenge: maintaining a strong, sustainable workforce. That’s why recognizing, supporting, and investing in allied professionals goes beyond recognizing them. Their roles are vital to the current healthcare ecosystem and an integral part of the future of healthcare.

The many faces of allied health

The term “allied health” covers a broad spectrum of specialties, and each one is uniquely essential to patient care. Allied health professionals can enjoy flexibility with the option to work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, outpatient clinics, private practices, long-term care facilities, home health, and more.

Here a just a few of these crucial roles:

  • Imaging and Diagnostic Technologists

From X-rays and CT scans to MRIs and ultrasounds, imaging technologists provide the visual insight that guides every clinical decision. Their expertise in diagnostic testing transforms complex data into clarity, ensuring accuracy and patient safety.

  • Rehabilitation and Therapy Professionals

Physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists are the champions of patient recovery and ongoing care. They help patients restore mobility, strength, and communication, and empower them to gain independence and improve their quality of life after illness or injury.

  • Laboratory and Clinical Technologists

Medical laboratory professionals are the unseen heroes of diagnosis. Their precision ensures accurate test results, allowing physicians and clinical teams to identify conditions early and determine the best course of treatment.

  • Cardiology and Respiratory Specialists

These professionals are vital to the care of a patient’s heart and lungs. They provide life-sustaining support in ICUs, manage ventilators, and monitor complex cardiac systems, playing a critical role in both emergency and chronic care.

  • Technical and Support Staff

From surgical technologists to medical assistants and technicians, these professionals ensure every procedure runs smoothly. They bridge coordination gaps, maintain sterile environments, and support the entire care continuum.

These are just a few of the roles that reflect the specialized expertise and unwavering dedication that define allied healthcare.

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Career resources for allied health professionals

Allied health is a fast-growing field, and many organizations support professionals on their career journey. Here are a few that act as an excellent resource for a career in allied health:

American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT)

This organization is an excellent resource for radiology professionals, including information on earning continuing education credits.

American Physical Therapy Association (APTA)

APTA is a community aimed at advancing the profession of physical therapy. It offers information on starting a career in physical therapy and resources for students.

American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA)

This organization provides professionals looking to start an education journey or career as a medical assistant with education information, certification, and networking opportunities.

American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)

AOTA brings together clinicians, educators, and academic leaders to advance education and offers information to help students excel in their programs.

The Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions (ASAHP)

Schools that offer programs and education platforms for allied health professionals are part of this not-for-profit organization. They publish various journals and newsletters on allied health. They work to advance the education of all health professions.

Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)

CAAHEP helps set standards for quality assurance in health professions education, like allied health. This organization works directly with programs to ensure proper accreditation for learning programs. Visit their site for a list of accredited programs, including self-study.

Celebrating Allied Health Week at StaffDNA

At StaffDNA, our mission is to connect allied health professionals with career opportunities nationwide. From travel positions to per diem, staff, and locum tenens, StaffDNA has the technology platform to help all allied professionals find a job they love.

The StaffDNA app is free to download, easy to use, and lets allied health professionals search thousands of jobs without registering. At StaffDNA, we are honored to work alongside allied professionals every day, and we’re committed to helping these healthcare heroes find the right job that suits their lifestyle, pay needs, and more. This Allied Health Week, we extend our deepest gratitude to you and all you do to keep healthcare moving forward.

Heidi Braucksieker

Heidi Braucksieker

Healthcare organizations face some of the toughest workforce challenges: tight budgets, lean IT teams and limited tools for sourcing, hiring and onboarding staff. Add in manual scheduling, rising labor costs and high burnout, and the pressure grows. Rolling out complex systems can feel out of reach without dedicated tech support. Even simply evaluating new technology can overwhelm already stretched-thin teams.

These challenges make it clear that technology isn’t just helpful; it’s essential for healthcare organizations. Especially when they’re striving to do more with less. Not only are healthcare organizations falling short on implementing new technology, but they’re struggling to update outdated systems. A 2023 CHIME survey found that nearly 60% of hospitals use core IT systems, such as EHRs and workforce platforms, that are over a decade old. Outdated tools can’t integrate or scale, creating barriers to smarter staffing strategies. But the opportunity to modernize is real and urgent.

Tech in Patient Care Falls Short

In healthcare, technology has historically focused on clinical and patient care. Workforce management tools have taken a back seat to updating patient care systems. Yet many big tech companies have failed when it comes to customizing healthcare infrastructure and connecting patients with providers. Google Health shuttered after only three years, and Amazon’s Haven Health was intended to disrupt healthcare and health insurance but disbanded three years later.

Why the failures? It’s estimated that nearly 80% of patient data technology systems must use to create alignment is unstructured and trapped in data silos. Integration issues naturally form when there’s a lack of cohesive data that systems can share and use. Privacy considerations surrounding patient data are a challenge, as well. Across the healthcare continuum, federal and state healthcare data laws hinder how seamlessly technology can integrate with existing systems.

Why Smarter Staffing Is Now Essential

These data and integration challenges also hinder a healthcare organization’s ability to hire and deploy staff, an urgent healthcare priority. The U.S. will face a shortfall of over 3.2 million healthcare workers by 2026. At the same time, aging populations and rising chronic conditions are straining teams already stretched thin.

Smart workforce technology is becoming not just helpful, but essential. It allows organizations to move from reactive staffing to proactive workforce planning that can adapt to real-world care demands.

Global Inspiration: Japan’s AI-Driven Workforce Model

Healthcare staffing shortages aren’t just a U.S. problem. So, how are other countries addressing this issue? Countries like Japan are demonstrating what’s possible when technology is utilized not just to supplement staff, but to transform the entire workforce model. With one of the world’s oldest populations and a significant clinician shortage, Japan has adopted a proactive approach through its Healthcare AI and Robotics Center, where several institutions like Waseda University and Tokyo’s Cancer Institute Hospital are focusing on developing AI-powered hospitals.

Japan’s focus on integrating predictive analytics, robotics and data-driven scheduling across elder care and hospital systems is a response to its aging population and workforce shortages. From robotic assistants to AI-supported shift planning, Japan’s futuristic model proves that holistic tech integration, not piecemeal upgrades, creates sustainable staffing frameworks.

Rather than treating workforce tech as an IT patch for broken systems, Japan’s approach embeds these tools throughout care operations, supporting scheduling, monitoring, compliance and even direct caregiving tasks. U.S. health systems can draw critical lessons here: strategic investment in integrated platforms builds resilience, especially in a labor-constrained future.

The Power of Smart Workforce Technology

In the U.S., workforce management is becoming increasingly seen as more than a back-office function; it’s a strategic business operation directly impacting clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction. Smart technology tools are designed to improve care quality, staff satisfaction, scheduling, pay rates, compliance and much more.

For example, by using historical data, patient acuity, seasonal trends and other data points, organizations can predict their staff needs more accurately. The result is fewer gaps in scheduling, fewer overtime payouts and a flexible schedule for staff. AI-powered analytics can help healthcare leadership teams spot patterns in absenteeism, see productivity and forecast needs in multiple clinical areas in real-time. Workforce management tools can help plan scheduling proactively, rather than reactively. It’s a proven technology tool that can help drive efficiency and reduce costs.

Why So Many Are Still Behind

Despite the clear benefits, many healthcare organizations are slow to adopt smart tools that empower their workforce. Several things are holding them back from going all-in on technology:

Financial Pressures

Over half of U.S. hospitals are operating at or below break-even margins. For them, investing in new technology solutions is financially unfeasible. Scalable, subscription-based and even free workforce management tools are available, but most organizations are unaware of or lack the resources to source these products. Workforce management tools can deliver long-term return on investment for most organizations. Taking the time to understand where the value lies and which tools to invest in needs to happen.

Outdated Core Systems

Many facilities still depend on legacy technology infrastructure that lacks real-time capabilities. Many large players in the healthcare workforce management industry dominate hospital systems. Other smaller, real-time tools that offer innovative solutions to scheduling, workforce hiring, rate calculators and more are available at a fraction of the cost.

Competing Priorities and Strategic Blind Spots

Healthcare organizations and hospitals have many high-priority business objectives and regulatory demands. Digital transformation naturally falls down on the priority list, which causes them to miss improvements that can lead to long-term stability. With patient care and provider satisfaction at the top of the priority mountain, technology changes can be easily missed or shoved to the side when other business objectives are perceived to “move the needle” more.

Poor Change Management

Even the best technology efforts can fail without the right strategy for adoption and support from senior leadership. Resistance from staff, lack of training, or poor rollout communication can undermine success. Effective change management—clear leadership, role-based training and feedback loops—is essential.

Faster than the speed of technology

Change needs to come quickly to healthcare organizations in terms of managing their workforce efficiently. Smart technologies like predictive analytics, AI-assisted scheduling and mobile platforms will define this next era. These tools don’t just optimize operations but empower workers and elevate care quality.

Slow technology adoption continues to hold back the full potential of the healthcare ecosystem. Japan again offers a clear example: they had one of the slowest adoption rates of remote workers (19% of companies offered remote work) in 2019. Within just three weeks of the crisis, their remote work population doubled (49%), proving that technological transformation can happen fast when urgency strikes. The lesson is clear: healthcare organizations need to modernize faster for the sake of their workforce and the patients who rely on providers to deliver care.

 

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