Dive Brief:
Fewer physicians are considering leaving the profession in 2025 than in 2024, according to a new survey from the Harris Poll and electronic health record provider Athenahealth.
Part of physicians’ improved job satisfaction was driven by increased adoption of artificial intelligence, the researchers said. Fewer physicians reported the technology was over-hyped this year, and they saw the most promise in transcription services and capabilities.
Still, physicians shared concerns about the fate of the industry long-term and only 3 in 10 physicians were optimistic about the direction of U.S. healthcare generally. Respondents were most concerned about interoperability challenges, their organization’s financial health and meeting regulatory requirements.
Dive Insight:
Athenahealth, an electronic health record vendor that sells patient engagement tools and healthcare AI products, and the Harris Poll surveyed more than a thousand primary care and specialist physicians nationwide in January to understand physician attitudes about the state of their profession and the adoption of emergent technologies.
The team reported a decrease in physician burnout rates and intentions to quit in 2025 relative to 2024 — a welcome finding after multiple years of high physician turnover following the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a blog post accompanying the survey, the team said technology improvements, especially the use of AI to address administrative burdens, was a “main driver” of physicians’ changing sentiments.
“For years EHRs were cited as one of the major contributors to physician burnout, so it stands to reason that as the technology improves, we’ll hopefully start to see sentiments improve as well,” the team said in the blog.
While previous independent research has linked frustrations with EHRs to turnover, those studies have cautioned against attributing discontent to a single factor. Researchers note burnout is complex and can stem from frustrations with pay, difficult patients, volume and intensity of work, and advancement opportunities.
In Athenahealth’s survey, 3 in 10 physicians said AI has the potential to reduce burnout. The same number reported they are currently using AI in their practice, while the majority have yet to adopt the technology. This year was the first time researchers queried physicians about their AI use, so a spokesperson couldn’t comment on whether AI adoption had ramped up among physicians.
The survey did find an increase in “resources and tools” available to physicians in 2025 relative to 2023. Physicians also reported spending more time with patients relative to 2023, which could partially explain the shift in burnout and quit intentions, according to the survey.
Fifty-one percent of physicians report having adequate time with patients, up from 43% in 2023. While 35% of respondents said patient volumes and costs negatively impact their ability to provide quality care at least once a week, that’s down from the 50% of respondents who said volumes and costs impacted care at least once a week in 2023.
Still, physicians report more optimism about potential use cases of AI. They said the greatest possible benefits to using AI in healthcare will be improved clinical documentation and transcription services, identifying patterns in patient data and reduced administrative burdens.
However, there is a gender gap forming between male and female physicians in how comfortable they feel using the technology to treat patients.
While 66% of male physicians would use AI for diagnosis support and 54% would use the technology for treatment planning, only 46% of female physicians would leverage the technology for diagnostics and just 36% would use it for treatment planning.
Across genders, physicians said their top concerns with using AI include the loss of a human touch in healthcare, an overreliance on the tools to diagnose patients and improper diagnoses.
