Physicians Not Optimistic About Quality Trends

Yesterday, Sermo, Inc. and athenahealth released a joint survey of 1,000 physicians called the Physician Sentiment Index.  The first survey of its kind, it suggests that physicians are pessimistic about the future of health care.  In fact,

• 64% say that the health care environment is detrimental to their delivery of quality care
• 59% believe the quality of medicine will decline in America over the next five years

Despite the medical advances that enter into the health care delivery system on an ongoing basis, only 18% believe that the quality of medicine will improve over the next five years.  However, seven in ten physicians believe that electronic health records can help reduce medical errors and improve physician compliance with clinical guidelines and feel that the benefits justify the costs of installing such systems.