From CVS Health to artificial intelligence, five physician leaders joined Becker's to discuss the healthcare disruptors most affecting physicians.
Editor's note: These responses were edited lightly for clarity and length.
Michael Gomez, MD. NICU Medical Director of Pediatrix Medical Group (Long Branch, N.J.): Technology including telemedicine, EHR, the specter of AI and shifting patient empowerment means physicians feel irrelevant again
Roger Kaldaway, MD. Owner and CEO of Milford-Franklin Eye Center (Milford, Mass.): The rise of telemedicine and AI are two healthcare disruptors impacting physicians, contributing to burnout and making it harder to maintain their practices. Telemedicine requires doctors to be available beyond traditional hours, increasing stress and fatigue. AI demands continuous learning and integration into medical practice, which can be overwhelming. Retail healthcare and direct-to-consumer telehealth services from companies like Amazon and CVS Health are reshaping primary care, adding competitive pressure. Physicians must also balance high-quality care with meeting administrative and regulatory requirements. These challenging disruptors collectively contribute to increased burnout among healthcare providers.
Javier Marull, MD. Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management at UT Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas):Healthcare is changing fast, and for many physicians, keeping up with these changes can feel both exciting and challenging. One of the most significant shifts affecting physicians today is the rise of technology, mainly artificial intelligence and digital tools. These innovations have the potential to transform the way we practice medicine, but they’re also bringing new challenges that require us to adapt.
Technology in healthcare goes further than just new tools or software; it is basically changing how we interact with patients, diagnose diseases, and manage information. AI is now helping predict patient outcomes, assist with diagnoses, and guide treatment decisions. Digital health platforms like telemedicine and wearable devices are giving patients new ways to access care outside the traditional office visit.
While these advancements offer the potential to improve outcomes, they also make us rethink our daily practice. Many of us entered medicine to build strong, face-to-face relationships with our patients. But with the increasing use of telemedicine, we are spending more time interacting with patients through screens instead of in person. Although this may be practical, it also raises concerns about keeping the personal connection that is important to our profession.
David Rosenfeld, MD. Anesthesiologist and Interventional Pain Specialist at Alliance Spine & Pain (Peachtree City, Ga.): The disruptors in healthcare I see having a significant impact in the near future is artificial intelligence. AI is being used and will continue to expand being used for the purpose of clinical documentation. Many administrative functions (precertification, prior authorization, appeals) and general paperwork processing can be made less burdensome to the clinician via the use of AI. AI will likely be used even more in early disease detection, drug development, and improving diagnostic accuracy.
Sheldon Taub, MD.Gastroenterologist at Jupiter (Fla.) Medical Center: The biggest healthcare disruptor affecting decisions right now is time management with decreasing reimbursements. Physicians who participate in Medicare have seen almost a 30% decrease in reimbursement in the last 20 years. This is in spite of increasing costs to run an office. They are pushed to cut corners in patient management, which is bad for the overall healthcare system