Jobs / Healthcare / 31-1132.00

Orderlies

Transport patients to areas such as operating rooms or x-ray rooms using wheelchairs, stretchers, or moveable beds. May maintain stocks of supplies or clean and transport equipment. Psychiatric orderlies are included in Psychiatric Aides.

US jobs
52,440
Median wage
$38,290 a year
Job family
Healthcare

Can agents do the work of orderlies?

We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Healthcare:

  • Task levelPartialOne benchmark, from early 2025. On Stanford's MedAgentBench, where agents do clinical tasks in a simulated electronic health record, the best recorded model completes 69.7% of tasks (Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2). It has no maintained leaderboard, so newer models are not measured. No benchmark in our collection tests work with patients.
  • Project levelPartialOnly adjacent evidence. GDPval includes nurses among its 44 occupations. OpenAI reports that GPT-5.5's deliverables won or tied against professionals' work in 84.9% of comparisons across all occupations. No benchmark in our collection tests clinical work over days, such as managing a patient's care.

Benchmarks for the job family

These cover work in healthcare, not always this occupation's tasks.

  • GDPvalby OpenAIProject level · Wins plus ties against experts
    84.9%GPT-5.5 · Apr 2026
    Strong
  • GDPval-AAby Artificial AnalysisProject level · GDPval-AA Elo
    1846 EloClaude Opus 5.5 (Adaptive Reasoning, Max Effort, Default Fallback) · 23 Sep 2026
    Unrated
  • MedAgentBenchby Stanford UniversityTask level · Task success rate
    69.7%Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 · 24 Jan 2025
    Strong

Typical tasks

From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.

  • Lift or assist others to lift patients to move them on or off beds, examination tables, surgical tables, or stretchers.
  • Transport patients to treatment units, testing units, operating rooms, or other areas, using wheelchairs, stretchers, or moveable beds.
  • Disinfect or sterilize equipment or supplies, using germicides or sterilizing equipment.
  • Clean equipment, such as wheelchairs, hospital beds, or portable medical equipment, documenting needed repairs or maintenance.
  • Respond to emergency situations, such as emergency medical calls, security calls, or fire alarms.
  • Change soiled linens, such as bed linens, drapes, or cubicle curtains.
  • Carry messages or documents between departments.
  • Transport portable medical equipment or medical supplies between rooms or departments.
  • Clean and sanitize patient rooms, bathrooms, examination rooms, or other patient areas.
  • Collect and transport infectious or hazardous waste in closed containers for sterilization or disposal, in accordance with applicable law, standards, or policies.
  • Transport specimens, laboratory items, or pharmacy items, ensuring proper documentation and delivery to authorized personnel.
  • Collect soiled linen or trash.
Other job titles for this occupation (42)

Attendant · Operating Room Assistant · Orderly · Patient Care Assistant (PCA) · Patient Care Technician (PCT) · Patient Escort · Patient Transporter · Radiology Transporter · Transporter · Cart Attendant · Clinical Support Associate · Emergency Room Orderly · Hospice Entrance Attendant · Hospital Corpsman · Hospital Orderly · Infirmary Attendant · Institutional Aide · Medical Orderly · Medical Transporter · New Patient Escort · Operating Room Aide · Operating Room Orderly · Patient Care Associate · Patient Observer · Patient Safety Attendant · Patient Sitter · Patient Transport Aide · Patient Transport Orderly · PCT PRN (Patient Care Technician Pro Re Nata) · Psychiatric Orderly · Radiology Aide · Radiology Orderly · Security Orderly · Surgical Orderly · Transport Aide · Transport Technician (Transport Tech) · Transportation Aide · Transporter PRN (Transporter Pro Re Nata) · Ward Aide · Ward Assistant · Ward Attendant · Ward Helper