What do practitioners really wish the healthcare industry knew?

Behind every appointment, chart note, and clinical decision lies a set of unseen challenges that shape how care is delivered. From administrative overload to unrealistic time constraints, practitioners across specialties are feeling the strain of doing more with less.

Recently, practitioners on Healthcasts dicusssed what’s really driving burnout and frustration in their day-to-day practice. The challenges shared underscore one theme: sustainable, high-quality care starts with providing better support (especially in administrative terms) for those delivering it.

What do you wish the healthcare industry better understood about your work? Log in or sign up to read the full case, see the consensus, and share your own thoughts. 

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Key takeaways about daily healthcare provider challenges:  

• Time is the scarcest resource in patient care
  Practitioners across specialties cite overwhelming time pressure as their biggest challenge, with packed schedules leaving little room for meaningful patient interaction or reflection.
  
• Administrative tasks are eclipsing patient care
  Documentation, prior authorizations, and endless inbox messages continue to drain valuable clinical hours and contribute to burnout.
  
• Innovation often overlooks real-world workflows
  Many tools and solutions are developed without practitioner input, resulting in products that add friction instead of simplifying care delivery.
  

Family Practice

"There are many difficulties in primary care but I think the biggest one is the document burden that takes up so much time out side of seeing patients- lab results, imaging results, medical questions, referral coordination, prior authorizations and refill requests. All of this in addition to coordinating acate for all of the patients medical needs and preventative health. It can be overwhelming at times."

Pediatrics

"The intense responsibility we feel to do right by every patient no matter the time it takes. If we are running late it is because a previous patient needed our time. We are working in an environment where perfection is expected within a significant time constraint. So we err on the side of running late over making mistakes."

Endocrinology/Diabetes

"The inbasket takes a lot of time. We need time built into the schedule to address everything. Otherwise burnout happens fast."

Nurse Practitioners

"Products are frequently developed without clinical input: Solutions, from new devices to EHR features, are often created by industry professionals without deep involvement from the providers who utilize them. This results in products that are void from clinical problems and not user-friendly."

Family Practice

"Patients are individuals. Too much of the computerization today tries to consider all patients the same, for example telling me I need to order a mammogram on a 50 year old female when really we are having a discussion about starting palliative care for stage 4 cancer."

Neurology

"We don’t have a lot of free time so sales reps and MSLs should be more respectful of our schedules. Hospital administration should appreciate that physicians are their most valuable resource and treat us accordingly."

Family Practice

"Time is needed to appropriately address issues in primary care. Providers are shrinking and pressures are increasing making things harder to practice in primary care effectively. Changes need to be made or the platform will continue to dissolve the primary care workforce, further straining the practice."

Internal Medicine

"False information on the internet is making it challenging to meet our measures."

Family Practice

"Scheduling of appointments. Patients may sometimes wait up to half an hour after their appointment is scheduled. It upsets the patient and makes the physician feel rushed. This is when mistakes are made and how patient/physician relationships become soured."

Nurse Practitioners

"I wish the industry understood how each patient can’t fit into a nice little 5-10 minute appointment slot. We are expected to assess, listen, and manage patients, all while attempting to make patients not feel rushed by being empathetic and having good bedside manner."

Review what else your peers are citing as their top challemges, and share yours, by reading the full post on Healthcasts.