Nearly all doctors feel burnout, but many are encouraged by potential of AI, survey says
Suriyapong Thongsawang | Moment | Getty Images
Doctors in the U.S. are struggling to contend with burnout, staffing shortages and overwhelming administrative workloads, but many are optimistic that artificial intelligence could help to ease these problems, a new survey found.
More than 90% of physicians report feeling burned out on a “regular basis,” according to the survey, commissioned by Athenahealth, which offers cloud-based health-care 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 clerical requirements.
More than 60% of respondents said they have considered leaving the medical field, the report said.
Athenahealth released the results of the survey Wednesday.
To keep up with workloads, physicians are spending an average of 15 hours per week working outside their normal hours, in what many in the industry refer to as “pajama time,” the survey said.
Nearly 60% of doctors in the survey said they feel they do not have enough in-person time with their patients, and more than 75% reported feeling overwhelmed by patients’ “excessive communication demands,” such as frequent texting, calling and emailing outside scheduled visits.
Doctors are also noticing the challenges that their employers are facing, the survey found.
Around 78% of physicians said poor staff retention and shortages are affecting their organizations, according to the survey. Additionally, fewer than 40% of doctors feel confident that their employer is “on solid financial footing.”
Despite these obstacles, 83% of doctors in the survey said they believed AI could help. Physicians think the technology could eventually streamline administrative work, improve the accuracy of diagnoses, identify patterns and anomalies in patient data and more, the survey said.
Many doctors said their biggest concern about AI is that it could lead to a loss of human touch in health care, and around 70% said they are concerned about the technology’s use during at least one part of the diagnosis process, the survey said.
Even so, twice as many survey participants said AI would eventually be part of the solution, compared with those who said AI is part of the problem, according to the news release.
The study said 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 health care. Nearly 80% of that group said they think tech helps them manage their patient workload, for instance.
“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,” Dr. Nele Jessel, chief medical officer of Athenahealth, said in the release. “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.”
While AI is unlikely to solve health-care problems overnight, the survey found that the technology is giving some doctors hope for the future. Around 37% of the AI optimists believe the field is ultimately heading in the right direction, according to the survey.
In the study, 1,003 doctors were surveyed between Oct. 23 and Nov. 8. The survey was conducted online by market research firm The Harris Poll on behalf of Athenahealth, whose sponsorship of the study was not revealed to the survey participants, the release said. Only 5% of respondents said they use Athenahealth’s technology, the release said.
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An electric air taxi by Joby Aviation flies near the Downtown Manhattan Heliport in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 12, 2023.
Roselle Chen | Reuters
Air taxi maker Joby Aviation in a new lawsuit accused competitor Archer Aviation of using stolen information by a former employee to “one-up” a partnership deal with a real estate developer.
“This is corporate espionage, planned and premeditated,” Joby said in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in a California Superior Court in Santa Cruz, where the company is based.
Archer and Joby did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
The lawsuit alleges that former U.S. state and local policy lead, George Kivork, downloaded dozens of files and sent some content to his personal email two days before he resigned in July to take a job at Archer, which had recruited him.
By August, Joby said a partner that worked with Kivork said it had been approached by Archer with a “more lucrative deal.” Joby alleges that the eVTOL rival’s understanding of “highly confidential” details helped it leverage negotiations.
Joby also said the developer attempted to terminate the agreement, citing a breach of confidentiality.
Kivork refused to return the files when Joby approached him after conducting an investigation, according to the suit. The company also said Archer denied wrongdoing, and would not disclose how it learned about the terms of the agreement or provide results from an internal investigation it allegedly undertook.
The lawsuit comes during a busy period for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology as companies race to gain Federal Aviation Administration certification to start flying commercially. ‘
The sector has also benefitted from President Donald Trump‘s newly minted eVTOL pilot program.
Joby argued in the complaint that it’s “imperative” to protect Joby’s work “from this type of espionage” to promote the sector’s success and ensure fair competition.
Last week, Joby said it completed its first test flight for a hybrid aircraft it’s working on with defense contractor L3Harris. This month, Amazon-backed Beta Technologies, another electric flight company, also went public on the New York Stock Exchange.
Joby shares have more than doubled over the last year, while Archer is up about 68%.
In August 2023, Archer settled a previous legal dispute with Boeing-owned Wisk Aero over the alleged theft of trade secrets. As part of the deal, Archer agreed to use Wisk as its autonomous tech partner.
A hearing is scheduled for March 20, 2026.
Joby and Archer year-to-date stock chart.
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