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Almost all physicians regularly experience burnout and more than half have considered leaving or no longer seeing patients, a survey found.

A total of 93% of approximately 1,000 physicians surveyed online -- three-fourths of whom were primary care doctors -- said they feel burned out regularly; they also reported working an average of 15 hours per week outside their regular workday, during "pajama time." The Harris Poll survey was sponsored by athenahealth -- an electronic health record company -- and was conducted from Oct. 23 to Nov. 8, 2023. The company's sponsorship was not revealed during the survey.

More than half of survey participants (56%) said they've thought about either staying in medicine but no longer seeing patients, or leaving the field entirely, the poll found. Primary care doctors expressed more frustration than specialists, with a higher percentage considering leaving the field entirely (54% vs 42%). Only 30% of respondents overall said they were optimistic about the future.

The survey also asked about artificial intelligence (AI) and whether its use might help reduce burnout. In all, 83% of participants said they thought AI could help with many of the industry's problems. Most respondents already used an EHR; of those, 65% said they thought it helped provide high-quality care and 54% said they thought it made their healthcare facility more efficient.

In terms of AI, "one of the top concerns physicians have ... is the potential loss of human touch; that is an incredibly important signal to which we need to pay attention," Nele Jessel, MD, chief medical officer at athenahealth, . "In order for physicians to fully benefit from technology as a care enhancement tool, they need to experience more advantages and fewer added complexities or burdens. If we get this right, we'll be using the technology to reduce administrative work and increase efficiencies in ways that allow physicians to refocus on their patients."

In terms of their daily routine, nearly half of those polled (49%) said their daily workload is unsustainable; that included 57% of primary care doctors and 46% of specialists. More than half of respondents (57%) said they didn't have enough time to spend with patients, with women agreeing with that statement more often than men (84% vs 62%).

In addition, 77% of respondents said much of their time is dedicated to non-reimbursable tasks, such as getting prior authorizations or filling out insurance forms. Overall, nearly two-thirds (64%) of those polled said they felt overwhelmed by administrative requirements and burdens, including 70% of primary care doctors and 62% of specialists.

The survey also asked about patients' communication needs and expectations. More than three-fourths of respondents (77%) said they felt overwhelmed by excessive communication demands -- such as responding to emails, phone calls, and text messages -- with 60% of those polled saying they are "expected to respond to patient communications at "all hours of the day, every day of the week."

Pollsters also asked about financial issues. Only 38% of respondents agreed that their healthcare facility is on solid financial ground; those in practices employing both fee-for-service and value-based care arrangements more often felt financially secure compared with those whose practices used either one of those arrangements by itself. Specifically, nearly half (47%) of those who used both fee-for-service and value-based care payment models believe their organization/practice is on solid financial footing, while only 35% of those who use just a fee-for-service model and 31% of those who use solely a value-based care payment model said they felt the same way.

Lawsuits and malpractice issues were another concern, with nearly half of the participants (45%) citing those issues as a contributor to burnout. Not surprisingly, this was a bigger issue for specialists, with 59% of ob/gyns, for example, citing these issues as a problem, compared with 39% of primary care doctors.

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