Burnout among doctors has reached alarming levels worldwide. A recent Commonwealth Fund analysis revealed that in seven out of 10 high-income nations, fewer than half of primary care physicians feel satisfied with their work. Although every health care system faces unique challenges, the universal and overlooked etiology of clinician burnout is the epidemic of chronic disease.
Treatment of chronic diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure, dominates medical practice today. In fact, the increase in prevalence is so rapid that the WHO predicts that chronic illness will account for 86% of the world’s 90 million annual deaths by 2050. Unlike the acute conditions of the 20th century — broken bones, infections, and gallstones that either resolved quickly with treatment or resulted in death — chronic diseases require continuous management, necessitating multiple in-office visits each year for the rest of a patient’s life.
As a result, doctors are forced to see more patients each day, with less time for each. This leads to fatigue, rushed care, and a higher risk of misdiagnosis. Over time, clinicians experience “moral injury” — a deep sense of psychological distress caused by the inability to provide the quality of care they know is needed.
And because chronic disease is now a global issue, so too is burnout. In England, physician burnout hit a record high in 2022, as professional satisfaction plummeted to 31% — with the threat of an NHS exodus looming. In the U.S., half of physicians report feeling overwhelmed, and nearly a quarter say they are depressed.
The most frequently proposed solutions to burnout — hiring more doctors, reducing patient loads, boosting legislative funding, or eliminating administrative burdens — are all unlikely to happen due to cost and systemic constraints.
A better solution lies in reducing the demand on doctors. This is possible by better preventing chronic diseases and improving management for problems that cannot be avoided. Until now, clinicians have lacked cost-effective approaches to implement these strategies at scale.
The Role of Generative AI in Managing Chronic Disease
Generative AI (GAI) offers a promising solution to managing chronic disease. These AI systems can analyze vast amounts of data, generate human-like responses, and help patients manage their conditions. When integrated with wearable home devices, GAI can monitor patients’ health data in real time. It alerts both patients and physicians when medication adjustments are needed or when clinical progress is on track. This more personalized care model would reduce unnecessary office visits and allow clinicians to focus on patients with the most pressing medical needs, reducing daily patient loads while improving care quality. In the end, better control of chronic diseases would lessen the overall burden on the health care system, alleviate clinician burnout, and improve patient outcomes.
According to the CDC, better control of conditions like diabetes and hypertension could prevent 30%–50% of heart attacks, strokes, failed kidneys, and some cancers. This would create a virtuous cycle: improved management of chronic diseases would lead to fewer complications, reduced office visits, more time for complex cases, and even better control of chronic conditions.
The current AI systems from companies like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft are powerful, and experts predict they will become exponentially more capable over the next decade — 32 times more powerful in five years and 1,000 times more capable in 10. These enhancements will lead to faster analysis, improved diagnostic accuracy, and more personalized treatments.
However, with clinician burnout worsening, we cannot afford to wait for future technological leaps. The time for action is now.
Tackling the chronic disease crisis with GAI will require a concerted effort similar to Operation Warp Speed, which fueled the development of the COVID-19 vaccine in under a year. To succeed in this venture, government agencies like the NHS and NIH must take the lead in creating educational tools and clinical resources. These will enable clinicians and patients to better manage their chronic diseases using GAI and wearable technologies.
The most effective solution to physician burnout is leveraging GAI to improve chronic disease prevention and management. This will reduce the workload on clinicians and enhance patient care. By using technology to address the root cause of burnout — chronic disease — we can improve clinical outcomes for patients and reduce the strain on all of us.
Dr. Robert Pearl is the former CEO of The Permanente Medical Group, the nation’s largest physician group. He is a Stanford University medical and business school professor and host of the Fixing Healthcare podcast. All profits from his newest book, “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine,” go to Doctors Without Borders. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.Illustration by Jennifer Bogartz
