5 Trends & Takeaways: Annual Clinician Survey Results and New Prescribing Data

Healthcare is hurting. We’ve all heard the stories about patients driving hours for a doctor’s visit, others not being able to get an appointment for months. And that’s before we get to the part of the story about clinician burnout.

But despite these challenges, it bears repeating that there is hope and near limitless potential among clinicians and organizations who are driven by the same purpose: making healthcare better for patients and those who care for them.

Data Brief

New Data: Clinician Perspectives & Prescribing Patterns Reveal Opportunities for Care Team Evolution

Check out these 5 trends and takeaways from our recent data brief to better understand the challenges and opportunities facing clinicians today and new insights on how we can help healthcare heal itself.

1. Burnout and medication costs remain top issues for clinicians.

For the second year in a row, care providers surveyed identified burnout and prescription medication costs as the top two biggest issues in healthcare. In addition, as clinicians continue to face burnout, it’s driving many to consider leaving their profession.

• More than 1 in 4 providers indicate they are somewhat or very likely to leave their profession in the next year due to burnout.
• 85% of pharmacists and 76% of other clinicians (including physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners) ranked prescription medication costs as the top issue and 85% of pharmacists and 72% of other clinicians ranked burnout as the second biggest issue.

What this means: These numbers are alarming, but it could be the push needed to pursue different options for healthcare delivery that take into account clinician burnout and the need for affordable and accessible care for patients that is close to home.

2. More clinicians see opportunities to expand the role of pharmacists.

Since 2023, a growing number of pharmacists (75%, up from 65% in 2023) and other clinicians (29%, up from 26% in 2023) agree with the statement: "we should allow pharmacists to take on more primary care duties like performing point-of-care testing and diagnostics, managing medications used to treat chronic conditions, and prescribing medications for certain conditions."

• About one-third of pharmacists feel their current position allows them to offer patients all the care they need (36%)
• Pharmacists and other clinicians agree that it is somewhat or very difficult to share patient information securely and confidently with other care providers (46% of pharmacists and 31% of other clinicians)

Between the lines: Physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants are seeing the value of partnering with pharmacists who can support routine care and medication management for chronic conditions. But without technology and policies that allow pharmacists access to health intelligence, their ability to compliment patient care teams remains relatively limited.

3. Pharmacists are prescribing more often, especially in a handful of forward-looking states.

Pharmacists are prescribing more often as a growing number of states adopt policies to empower pharmacists to provide a range of services aligned with their clinical ability.

• The top 100 most active pharmacist e-prescribers were responsible for 561,054 new prescriptions nationwide in 2023. Pharmacists in California, New Mexico, and New York accounted for 52.9% of the total nationwide pharmacist-issued e-prescriptions.

What we found: These pharmacists prescribed a variety of medications to treat chronic and acute conditions, most commonly diabetic therapies as well as psychoanaleptics and psycholeptics (two classes of medications prescribed for psychiatric conditions like depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and bipolar disorder).

4. Policy and payment models are advancing incrementally state-by-state.

Efforts to better reimburse pharmacists for providing clinical care are also gaining momentum at the state level.

• According to APhA, as of May 2024, 42 states where at least one service provided by a pharmacist is covered by Medicaid or a commercial health plan.

Yes, but: A comprehensive policy shift expanding pharmacists' authority and enabling reimbursement for care services is needed for patient care teams to truly evolve and effectively close gaps and improve patient care across the country.

What they're saying: Often, “there's not one penny of reimbursement [for care at the pharmacy] but there's a high need for it [care], and we won't be able to stay in business if there is not some type of reimbursement for them,” said Joe Moose, owner of Moose Pharmacy.

5. Secure health intelligence sharing is essential for true care collaboration that improves patient care.

Stakeholder collaboration, advancing interoperability and innovative technologies can help clinicians return their focus to what matters most: the patients in their care. It’s how we can help healthcare heal itself.

• Clinicians hope to see better access to clinical information: 85% of pharmacists and 57% of other clinicians said that they would place a high priority on connecting both pharmacists and prescribers with centralized information about their patients.

What’s next: Qualified Health Information Networks (QHINs) are health information exchanges that allow participants, such as clinicians, public health agencies, and healthcare organizations, to securely share health information under the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement. When given basic details about QHINs and their benefits, 71% of pharmacists and 53% of other clinicians said that joining a QHIN should be a high or essential priority in the next several years.

Practically speaking: Joe Moose, owner of Moose Pharmacy, said “the more information you have, the more informed your decision...we're [pharmacists] really good at helping reinforce the care plan [but] we rarely know what the care plan is, unless it's the care plan that the pharmacy side has created.”