Boston — Inlightened has released findings from a new survey showing growing concern among clinicians and healthcare leaders about the stability of the U.S. healthcare system over the next two years.
Inlightened, a tech-enabled insights platform that connects companies with a vetted network of healthcare professionals, said its Q2 2026 network survey found that many clinicians believe the system has become less stable and is likely to worsen.
Among physicians, nurses and healthcare leaders surveyed, 70% said the U.S. healthcare system is less stable than it was two years ago, while 72% said they expect conditions to worsen over the next 24 months.
Provider burnout was ranked as the top threat to system stability. Nearly half of respondents, 49%, said they expect staffing shortages at their own organizations to get worse.
Respondents also cited several ways they believe the system could decline, including clinician burnout, cited by 82%; rising costs of care for patients, cited by 81%; workforce shortages, cited by 77%; reimbursement instability or funding volatility, cited by 77%; a growing number of uninsured or underinsured patients, cited by 71%; and providers leaving clinical practice, cited by 62%.
“These findings reinforce a critical gap in how decisions are being made across healthcare,” said Shelli Pavone, president and co-founder at Inlightened. “Too often, policy, product and operational decisions are made without direct, real-time input from the clinicians delivering care, and the human infrastructure of our system is quietly eroding. Many experts in our network describe a system under increased strain, with growing concerns about burnout, workforce sustainability and the ability to meet demand. As leaders, policymakers and the industry plan for the future, the voices of those experts and the realities they see every day will be more important than ever.”
Inlightened said the findings point to several priorities for healthcare leaders, including involving clinicians earlier in technology deployment, treating workforce sustainability as a leading indicator and making expert input a continuous part of decision-making.
The survey found that clinicians are not necessarily opposed to artificial intelligence, but 70% warned that integration is outpacing execution. Inlightened said that early clinician input could help ensure technology adoption supports clinicians rather than adding to burnout.
“The growing frustration is leading more clinicians to question their long-term future in the profession, which will create meaningful workforce challenges if left unaddressed,” said Karen Leitner, M.D., internal medicine and pediatrics physician, certified coach for women physicians and Inlightened network expert. “And this is happening at exactly the wrong moment: Patients are aging and presenting with more chronic conditions, complexity and need. The country is going to require more dedicated, qualified and experienced providers in the next decade—not fewer. If these pressures persist, it will become increasingly difficult to meet growing patient demand with the workforce available to deliver care.”
Inlightened conducted the online survey among a randomized sample of its clinician and healthcare expert network between April 2 and April 24, 2026. The survey received more than 100 responses, with response counts by question ranging from 73 to 102.
Respondents included practicing physicians, nurses and healthcare leaders across more than 30 specialties, including oncology, neurology, emergency medicine, primary care, psychiatry, dermatology, surgery, critical care and hospital administration.
