From Burden to Breakthrough: How Real-Time Intelligence Is Reshaping the Care Experience

In today’s healthcare landscape, inefficiency isn’t just a nuisance—it’s a cost. A cost paid in clinician burnout, delayed care and fragmented patient experiences. But what if the burden could be lifted? What if intelligence—not just data—could transform the way care is delivered?

The Cost of Inefficiency in Healthcare

Every day, providers navigate a maze of manual processes: chasing down prior authorizations, sending faxes to verify patient benefit coverage and managing disconnected systems. These friction points don’t just slow down care—they compromise it—and they leave providers with less time for what matters most: the patient.

While burnout among care providers isn’t new—it remains one of the most pressing challenges in healthcare today. In fact, 74% of pharmacists and 73% of prescribers say it’s one of the biggest issues facing the industry, second only to the cost of care. And while fewer clinicians report plans to leave their profession due to burnout compared to previous years, the underlying causes persist—and continue to affect patients.

To better understand how burnout is evolving in 2025, Surescripts partnered with APCO Insight to survey 503 clinicians, including pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Their responses reveal a clear picture: administrative burden and inefficient systems are draining time and energy from the care team—and ultimately, from the patient experience.

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Administrative Burden & Inefficient Systems Fuel Burnout in Healthcare

Time Pressure and Administrative Tasks Are Taking a Toll

When asked about their biggest day-to-day challenges, both pharmacists and prescribers pointed to a lack of time. For pharmacists, 58% said time constraints were “very challenging,” while 48% of prescribers said the same. Administrative tasks—like paperwork and phone calls—were the second most common challenge across both groups.

One task stood out as particularly painful: prior authorizations for medications. Nearly all respondents said the process increases burnout, with 38% of pharmacists and 48% of prescribers saying it does so significantly. These delays don’t just frustrate clinicians—they can also delay treatment, disrupt workflows and erode trust with patients.

Technology Isn’t Meeting Expectations—Yet

Technology should help reduce manual work and streamline care. But many clinicians say their current systems aren’t doing enough. Only 10% of prescribers and 14% of pharmacists are very satisfied with their prior authorization system’s ability to eliminate faxes. Broader systems used to manage patient care aren’t faring much better: just 36% of pharmacists and 39% of prescribers are very satisfied with their software’s ability to reduce administrative work.

Prescribers also face challenges navigating cost and coverage information. Nearly one-third say it’s very hard to determine the total cost to the patient, and nearly half say it’s somewhat hard. These gaps make it harder to help patients access affordable medications and support programs.

Collaboration Is Key to Reducing Burnout

Solving burnout isn’t just about removing burdens—it’s also about enabling better collaboration across the care team. Most clinicians aren’t yet very satisfied with their software’s ability to support interoperability or team-based care. That’s why industrywide collaboration is so important.

One promising initiative is The Sequoia Project’s Interoperability Matters Pharmacy Workgroup, cochaired by Surescripts. This group brings together pharmacies, health IT vendors, payers, providers and associations to close gaps in pharmacy interoperability—especially in rural areas, where pharmacies may be easier to access than primary care providers.

Empowering Clinicians with Better Tools

To build on this year’s hopeful improvement in burnout, we must give clinicians tools that reduce administrative burden and support care collaboration. These include:

• Direct messaging to enable secure communication across organizations
• Easy access to prescription benefit coverage and pricing information
• E-prescribing to eliminate faxes and phone calls
• Touchless prior authorization to automate medication approvals

Healing Healthcare from the Inside Out

This isn’t just about technology. It’s about restoring humanity to healthcare. When providers are freed from administrative overload, they can focus on what they do best: healing. Real-time intelligence doesn’t just improve efficiency—it improves empathy.

I believe administrative burden is solvable—with the right intelligence. By addressing burnout through both technology and collaboration, we can help clinicians stay in their roles and deliver exceptional care—wherever patients seek it.