Results of the annual survey were announced today at the Executive Advisory Board meeting, a national summit of nearly 100 representatives of industry-leading organizations brought together by The Doctors Company to address some of the most pressing issues in healthcare. To pinpoint what concerns these leaders have and generate meaningful conversations, participants were surveyed prior to the summit.

Among the key findings are:

• In rating the impact technologies are having on risk, healthcare leaders see artificial intelligence as the front-runner in reducing risks, while they view online media as the riskiest technology, as it was in 2018.
• Tracking quality metrics, required by Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, continues to be the most important item for these organizations, as it was in 2018. However, communication between physicians and patients moved to number two in importance, replacing burnout. This may reflect the concern that digital technologies, such as electronic health records (EHRs), are impacting communication between physician and patient – as reflected in the Future of Healthcare Survey of more than 3,400 physicians.
• A majority of top healthcare providers are devoting increased resources to data security and have instituted data security protocols and training, indicating their concern that healthcare leads all industries in cybersecurity breaches.

"The concerns expressed by our nation's healthcare leaders show the growing impact of digital healthcare," said Richard E. Anderson, MD, FACP, chairman and CEO of The Doctors Company, who announced the survey results at today's meeting. "Our data reflect these issues. EHRs continue to have a negative impact on the doctor-patient communication. Telemedicine, retail medicine, and healthcare apps are changing the way many people access healthcare. It remains to be seen how this will affect medical outcomes and malpractice litigation."

"As the nation's largest physician-owned medical malpractice insurer, we are pleased to continue our dialogue with healthcare leaders," Dr. Anderson added. "We will make good use of these valuable insights as we fulfill our mission to advance the practice of good medicine."