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Doctors in the United States are struggling to deal with burnout, staffing shortages and overwhelming administrative workloads, but many are optimistic that artificial intelligence could help alleviate these problems, according to a new survey.
More than 90% of doctors report feeling burned out “on a regular basis,” according to the survey, commissioned by Athenahealth, which offers cloud-based healthcare tools. The survey found that excessive administrative tasks, such as paperwork, are the driving force behind this burnout, with 64% of doctors saying they feel overwhelmed by administrative requirements.
More than 60% of respondents said they had considered leaving the medical field, according to the report.
Athenahealth released the survey results on Wednesday.
To keep up with the workload, doctors spend an average of 15 hours per week working outside their normal hours, in what many in the industry call “pajama time,” according to the survey.
Nearly 60% of doctors surveyed said they feel they don't have enough in-person time with their patients, and more than 75% reported feeling overwhelmed by patients' “excessive communication demands,” such as texts, calls and emails. frequent emails from outside. scheduled visits.
Doctors are also noticing the challenges their employers face, according to the survey.
According to the survey, about 78% of doctors said that poor staff retention and shortages are affecting their organizations. Additionally, less than 40% of physicians feel confident that their employer is “on solid financial footing.”
Despite these obstacles, 83% of doctors surveyed said they believed AI could help. Doctors believe the technology could eventually streamline administrative work, improve the accuracy of diagnoses, identify patterns and anomalies in patient data and more, according to the survey.
Many doctors said their biggest concern about AI is that it could lead to a loss of human contact in healthcare, and about 70% said they are concerned about using the technology during at least part of the diagnosis process. , according to the survey.
Still, twice as many survey participants said AI would eventually be part of the solution compared to those who said AI is part of the problem, according to the press release.
The study said that AI optimists (survey participants who indicated that AI is part of the solution) also tend to feel more positive about the broader use of technology in healthcare. Nearly 80% of that group said they believe technology helps them manage their patients' workload, for example.
“For physicians to fully benefit from technology as a care improvement tool, they need to experience more benefits and fewer additional complexities or burdens,” Dr. Nele Jessel, chief medical officer at Athenahealth, said in the release. “If we do it right, we will use technology to reduce administrative work and increase efficiency in ways that allow doctors to refocus on their patients.”
While AI is unlikely to solve healthcare problems overnight, the survey found that the technology is giving some doctors hope for the future. According to the survey, about 37% of AI optimists believe the field is ultimately headed in the right direction.
In the study, 1,003 doctors were surveyed between October 23 and November 8. The survey was conducted online by market research firm The Harris Poll on behalf of Athenahealth, whose sponsorship of the study was not disclosed to survey participants, according to the release. . Only 5% of respondents said they use Athenahealth technology, according to the release.
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