BOSTON — Access to affordable healthcare has emerged as the leading and fastest-growing policy concern among physicians in the United States, according to athenahealth’s fifth annual Physician Sentiment Survey.
The survey found that 52 percent of physicians now identify healthcare affordability and access as their top policy concern, up from 44 percent in 2025 and 38 percent in 2024. The findings suggest that access challenges are no longer viewed solely as a patient issue but also as a major obstacle for physicians delivering care.
The survey was conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of athenahealth’s research and intelligence division, athenaInstitute, and included responses from 1,045 primary care and specialist physicians across the country.
While physicians reported growing optimism about technological improvements within their practices, overall confidence in the future of the U.S. healthcare system remains low. About 30 percent of physicians expressed optimism about the system’s future, a figure that has remained largely unchanged for three consecutive years.
The survey highlighted several areas where technology is improving clinical workflows. Sixty-two percent of physicians reported increased efficiency from electronic health records, up from 54 percent in 2024, and 55 percent said EHRs help support better patient care decisions. Adoption of artificial intelligence is also rising, with 42 percent of physicians reporting reductions in administrative burdens due to AI tools, compared with 37 percent last year. Comfort with AI increased to 54 percent from 46 percent in the prior survey.
Despite these advances, physicians continue to face challenges related to information overload and limited interoperability between healthcare systems. More than half of physicians, 56 percent, reported difficulty finding relevant patient information during visits, and 69 percent said they struggle to access recent medical histories from providers outside their organization. Physicians also cited information overload and interoperability barriers as major contributors to professional stress.
“Physicians today are more receptive than ever to adopting new tools and innovative ways of working, signaling a positive shift within clinical practices,” said Nele Jessel, chief medical officer at athenahealth and athenaInstitute co-chair. “Yet persistent structural barriers — like affordability challenges, care fragmentation, and information overload — continue to shape the daily realities of care delivery. The feedback from physicians underscores the critical work ahead: removing these burdens so clinicians can focus on what matters most — delivering exceptional patient care.”
The survey also found that physicians generally feel financially stable in the short term, with 67 percent expressing confidence in their financial footing, supported by patient retention and growth. However, more than half still expressed concern about the sustainability of their practices, and 90 percent of physicians in small practices said they worry about losing their independence due to financial pressures and reimbursement challenges.
Rural physicians reported significantly higher levels of burnout and career uncertainty than their urban and suburban counterparts. Sixty-seven percent of rural physicians reported burnout compared with 52 percent in urban and suburban areas, and they were more likely to consider leaving the profession. Rural physicians also expressed greater concern about access to affordable care and reported more difficulty accessing clinical data.
The survey identified a growing divide between large healthcare organizations and smaller practices in the adoption of artificial intelligence. Physicians at smaller practices reported lower comfort levels with AI than those at enterprise health systems, reflecting differences in available resources, data infrastructure and technical expertise.
Physicians who reported greater comfort with AI were also more optimistic about the future of healthcare. Forty-two percent of physicians comfortable with AI said they were optimistic about the healthcare system’s future, compared with 20 percent among those less comfortable with the technology.
Interest in value-based care models remains high but adoption is still limited. While 69 percent of physicians said they want more information about value-based care, fewer than half support implementing it in their practices, and only one-third believe it will improve practice sustainability over the next five years.
The 2026 Physician Sentiment Survey was conducted online from October 14 to October 29, 2025, and included responses from 1,045 physicians, including 752 primary care physicians and 291 specialists. Results were compared with previous survey waves conducted in 2025 and 2023.
