AI is the thread running through nearly every answer chief medical officers gave when asked what’s about to change most for their physicians. But the shape of that change looks different depending on the organization: for some, it’s ambient documentation and decision support easing administrative burden; for others, it’s a shift toward team-based care, tighter integration between clinical and operational leadership, or a renewed focus on access in the face of physician shortages.
Becker’s asked chief medical officers and associate CMOs across hospitals and health systems one question: What’s the biggest change you’re expecting for physicians within your organization over the next two years? Their answers, below, range from AI adoption and documentation demands to workforce constraints and the evolving definition of a physician’s role.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Lee Murphy, DO. Associate CMO, Medical Director of the Sedation Team at Riley Hospital for Children, and Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine (Indianapolis): At Indiana University Health at Riley Children’s Health, we anticipate that workforce challenges and reimbursement pressures will be the two most significant issues affecting physicians over the next two years. Pediatric medicine faces a unique set of challenges, including lower reimbursement relative to adult specialties, an aging physician workforce, and a limited pipeline of trainees entering pediatric subspecialties. Together, these trends are creating a growing mismatch between the demand for pediatric care and the available workforce.
At the same time, many children rely on public insurance programs, making pediatric healthcare particularly sensitive to changes in reimbursement and coverage policies. As financial pressures increase, pediatricians will have to advocate for their patients and families, helping navigate increasingly complex barriers to accessing care.
The result is a healthcare environment where physicians must do more with fewer resources while maintaining high standards of quality, safety and patient experience. Successfully addressing these challenges will require innovative workforce strategies, operational efficiencies, and continued advocacy to ensure children have access to the specialized care they need.
Jeff Shapiro, MD. Associate CMO of Emanate Health (Covina, Calif.): I feel the biggest change for physicians in most organizations is going to be the incorporation of AI in our daily work flows. The challenge is going to be ensure that these AI programs are safe and effective but still maintain physician oversight and integrity.
Nkem Mgbojikwe, MD. Associate CMO of Fox Chase Cancer Center (Philadelphia): Across the industry, physicians are navigating increasing complexity: clinical, operational and technological/AI. I expect the biggest shift to be a growing emphasis on simplifying practice environments so physicians can focus more fully on patient care. That includes better coordination across teams, more reliable day-to-day processes, and thoughtful integration of emerging tools that reduce friction rather than add to it.
Signa Perkins, MD. Chief of the Department of Medicine and Medical Director of Physician Advisory Services at Signature Healthcare Brockton (Mass.) Hospital: As the practice of medicine continues to evolve, the expectation placed upon the hands of the provider continues to morph. In the past decade, the changes have culminated into a landscape, that to some, may be unrecognizable. The implementations of federal policies have widespread implications across the healthcare continuum. For the physician, its effects will be felt on the demands for more precise documentation that is inclusive of stronger linkage to payments as there is increasing scrutiny in severity coding. This ultimately culminates in an increased query burden, workflow inefficiencies and growing provider dissatisfaction.
As a result, the expectations of documentation will demand more intentional description and explanation of the patient’s course requiring continued hospitalization. For some, it will be perceived as a burden, but with appropriate education and reeducation, I am confident the outcome will be what is best for our patients for whom we show up every day.
Nicholas Economides, MD. Associate CMO of Revenue Cycle at Baptist Memorial Healthcare Corp. (Memphis, Tenn.): To understand the difference of observation status versus inpatient admission from both sides of the aisle. Insurances use [office-based surgery and observation] for symptoms and work ups. Healthcare systems continue to take care of these patients without lowering the cost of that particular encounter, by providing symptom diagnostics as Inpatient, where most could have been conducted in the outpatient arena. The change would [allow] physicians [t navigate] care efficiently and correctly.
Claudia Emami, MD. CMO and Pediatric Surgeon at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast (Miramar Beach, Fla.): The biggest challenge facing physicians in healthcare organizations over the next two years is administrative burden — especially prior authorizations, clinical documentation, payer interactions and related regulatory/compliance tasks. This erodes time for direct patient care, fuels high stress and burnout and compounds other pressures like staffing shortages and financial/reimbursement issues.
Zeshan Anwar, MD. Associate CMO of Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital (Sayre, Pa.): The biggest change for rural healthcare physicians like ours in the next two years will be the rapid adoption of AI and virtual care tools to combat workforce shortages and improve patient access. Physicians will spend less time on administrative work and more time on direct patient care, while collaborating more closely with remote specialists and care teams.
James Keller, MD. Retired CMO. As a recently retired CMO and practicing maternal fetal medicine specialist, I believe that we are already focused at the physician level on quality and safety, so the focus will need to be on access given a relative shortage of physicians in an environment of both an aging population and increasing complexity of care.
This will require not only use of artificial intelligence to make physicians more productive, but to make sure that increased productivity is focused in the right direction. Primary care physicians must have their non-clinical burdens reduced and specialists and subspecialists will need to focus on those patients who will benefit most from the care they provide. Strategic use of advanced practice clinicians as well as appropriate compensation plans along with the previously mentioned artificial intelligence will all aid in these goals.
Adrian Moran, MD. Chief Medical and Transformation Officer of MaineHealth (Portland): Physicians will shift from traditional care to team led, technology enabled care delivery. They will be using AI to augment their care delivery. There will be an increased focus on integration of care from episodic to longitudinal care. They will also be increasingly aware of the importance of resource utilization.
Umar Farooq, MD. CMO of Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey (Pa.) Medical Center. The biggest change will be the evolution of physicians from primarily providers of care to leaders of AI-enabled clinical, educational and research ecosystems. We are entering the Age of Artificial Intelligence, where technologies such as ambient documentation, clinical decision support, predictive analytics and generative AI will fundamentally reshape how physicians practice medicine, teach learners and advance discovery.
For academic health systems, the opportunity extends far beyond efficiency or reducing administrative burden. AI can serve as a platform to better align our clinical, educational and research missions — accelerating the translation of discoveries into patient care, personalizing education and enabling new approaches to innovation. Importantly, we view AI not as a replacement, but as an enhancement of human potential, allowing physicians to spend more time on complex decision-making, mentorship, empathy and human connection.
Charles Harr, MD. CMO of WakeMed Health and Hospitals (Raleigh, N.C.): Professionalism will continue to be the biggest challenge for physicians as we adapt to shrinking operating margins, questions around affordability in healthcare and declining trust in the medical profession. Attention to transparency, honesty and avoidance of bias will require constant discipline. We are strengthening our physician leadership pipeline to empower young physicians to manage these challenges with honor, courage and commitment.
Hijinio Carreon, DO. Chief Clinical Officer, Mercy Medical Center (Des Moines, Iowa): The role of the physician will continue to expand beyond direct patient care. Physicians will increasingly be expected to lead multidisciplinary teams, leverage AI and digital tools responsibly, improve quality and operational performance and help redesign care delivery in an environment of workforce constraints and financial pressure. Organizations that successfully reduce administrative burden while giving physicians actionable data and meaningful input into operational decisions will be best positioned to improve both patient outcomes and physician engagement.
Richard Shannon, MD. Senior Vice President and CMO of Duke University Health System, Chief Quality Officer of Duke Health (Durham, N.C.): The much-needed reprieve afforded by ambient listening has been rapidly eroded by the insatiable demands of the MyChart In Basket. We are deploying our home-grown, AI-powered SCOUT synthesis platform to assist in prior authorization and seeking solutions to automate clinically appropriate responses to common patient inquiries while engaging and support our providers in the brave new world of AI.
Mark Meeker, DO. Vice President and CMO of OSF St. Mary Medical Center, OSF Holy Family Medical Center and OSF St. Luke Medical Center (Peoria, Ill.): In rural communities, physicians will have to adapt to a care team model with APPs to provide a higher volume of care with their input but not directly by them.
Mari Considine. Chief Marketing Officer of Acenda (Philadelphia): In behavioral healthcare, demand continues to grow while the workforce remains stretched. I think the biggest change over the next couple of years will be finding better ways to support clinicians so they can spend more time with patients and less time on everything else. That means better technology, better workflows and being thoughtful about what we ask of our teams.
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