Patients have plenty of gripes with the U.S. healthcare system — from feeling rushed and unheard during visits to having to wait weeks to schedule an appointment to being blindsided by surprise bills. They yearn for care experiences that are more convenient, personal and accessible. However, clinicians aren’t doing a great job of addressing these demands, according to a recent report from GE HealthCare.
GE HealthCare surveyed 5,500 patients and their families, as well as 2,000 clinicians. In addition to the survey results, the report was also based on 24 qualitative interviews.
In one of the interviews, a patient expressed that they wished their healthcare experiences were more focused on “getting genuine care and treatment” rather than “being just a case.” The patient said they understand how dire staffing levels are for healthcare workers and have the “utmost empathy” for what clinicians are going through — but noted that “empathy needs to go both ways.”
Most healthcare workers enter the field with the hope of helping people, but more than half of clinicians surveyed in the report said they don’t have the time nor the resources to adequately care for patients and their families. This number was especially low in suburban regions — just 34% of clinicians said they were equipped to provide adequate care.
Another recent study also demonstrated that healthcare’s workforce shortage and burnout crisis are preventing clinicians from being empathetic with patients. The study, published in April in JAMA Internal Medicine, compared two sets of written responses to real-world patient questions. One set was written by physicians, the other by ChatGPT. Both sets of answers were evaluated by a panel of licensed healthcare professionals — nearly half of the ChatGPT’s responses were categorized as empathetic by the panel, while just 5% of physicians’ responses were.
It might be surprising that responses from an AI model ended up being more empathetic than those given by humans, but lead study author John Ayers said it makes sense when you consider how pressed physicians are for time. Because ChatGPT doesn’t have a jam-packed schedule and isn’t suffering from burnout, it’s easier for the AI tool to express empathy in its responses. Physicians usually have so much on their plate that they forget that step, he pointed out.
In addition to wanting more personal and empathetic care, patients also want a less fragmented healthcare experience, the report revealed. Patients said they desire more control over their health journey — they often struggle to find care because the healthcare system is siloed and lacks effective communication between multiple clinicians, departments and facilities.
Some clinicians recognize that this is a problem that needs attention — 42% said they don’t feel that care team members collaborate well to deliver patient care. This is a major issue that needs improvement given that improved care team collaboration has the huge potential to increase clinician trust and patients’ confidence in their health systems, the report pointed out.
Technology is often heralded as a solution that can boost connection between care teams, but clinicians don’t always think it’s so simple. Nearly half of clinicians said their facilities’ medical technologies don’t seamlessly integrate with each other, and 45% said they do not receive adequate training — both initially and ongoing — to use the available medical technology to its full potential.
Clinicians may have more time to become educated about medical technology if their staffing levels weren’t so severe, but that problem doesn’t seem like it will be solved any time soon — the healthcare industry is projected to be short 10 million workers globally by 2030, according to the report.
Photo: PeopleImages, Getty Images
