Will 2025 Be the Year of Patient Burnout?

The chronic disease crisis is coming to its tipping point. New research finds that nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults are now classified as overweight or obese; more than 1.3 billion people worldwide are expected to have type 2 diabetes by 2050; and already, more than half of U.S. men experience hypertension.

The stats are overwhelmingly hard to fathom in aggregate — and equally difficult for individuals to cope with on a day-to-day basis.

Diabetes, for example, is a disease of overwhelming, nonstop decision-making, requiring people to stay one step ahead of countless factors each day, including diet and exercise, medications, device readings, doctor’s appointments, insurance coverage, and more. Add in all of the usual stressors of family, work, and socializing, and it’s a recipe for burnout, also known as “diabetes distress,” which up to 40% of people with diabetes currently experience. 

Despite its prevalence, however, the healthcare system has been ill-equipped to identify and address patient burnout in a coordinated and personalized manner, let alone work to solve for the gaps in the diabetes journey that contribute to burnout before distress takes root.

As we look toward the new year and its possibilities, a key step is bringing together stakeholders, including health plan leaders, to better understand how burnout can affect a person’s ability to engage in self-care and collaborative care — and how to develop proactive, person-centered solutions that get to the root causes of distress before they lead to detrimental disengagement.

What is patient burnout, really?

First, though, we must understand the different types of burnout patients living with chronic diseases are facing today.

“Burnout” is a type of overwhelming exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress. It can be caused by a job with too many requirements and not enough rewards, a family that doesn’t offer the same support as it demands, or a fragmented health system that exacerbates the relentless burdens of self-management that come alongside living with a chronic disease.

The combination of these and other factors can create a vicious cycle of patient burnout that can manifest in many forms, including:

• Physical distress: Stress is correlated with a variety of health symptoms, from headaches and digestive upset to chronic pain. People with diabetes who are overwhelmed with stress may also experience blood sugar swings that can lead to episodes of hyper- or hypoglycemia, leading to potential issues that may further challenge one’s ability to manage their own health.

• Emotional and mental distress: Diabetes distress is considered an emotional condition, but it often coexists with depression, anxiety, and other behavioral health issues. Both emotional and mental stress can make it difficult to process and act upon health information, engage in daily self-care, and maintain social and family relationships.

• Administrative distress: Navigating the convoluted health system is no easy feat. People with diabetes often get caught up in the complexities of multiple providers, medications, procedures, screenings, devices, and more. Trying to manage their healthcare calendar and meet their financial responsibilities while remaining adherent to care recommendations can be extremely challenging without additional guidance and support.

It is the healthcare system’s responsibility to help reduce patient burnout in all its forms by actively working to break down the barriers that can send people with chronic diseases into a tailspin. 

Getting upstream of patient burnout in 2025 and beyond

Health plans are uniquely positioned to take the lead in making the new year healthier, given the broad visibility they have into member populations — as well as strong levers to encourage collaboration between providers, pharmacies, device companies, suppliers, and other members of the care team.

To avoid patient burnout in 2025, health plans have a huge opportunity to begin addressing the risks of burnout before, during, and after it occurs among their members living with chronic conditions.

It starts by preparing members to manage their chronic conditions as close to diagnosis as possible. Personalized education and coaching around self-management, including how to maximize the value of devices like continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), can help members establish a baseline of knowledge, confidence, and problem-solving skills for everyday care. Plans should also make an effort to prioritize assessing the literacy and skill levels of both new and existing members, since some members may not have received basic diabetes education in the past.

Plans can also offer accessible, high-impact care navigation services that help guide members through the engagements with the four key players necessary to have a seamless diabetes management experience: payers, providers, device manufacturers, and diabetes supply companies. These players must continue to focus on breaking down silos in coordinated chronic care management and driving toward preventive care best practices. To make this a reality, health plans have a unique opportunity in 2025 to step up and build a new, more seamless experience where patients can receive their medical devices and prescriptions at home; access educational services to optimize device and utilization; utilize ongoing coaching as a tool to drive long-term behavioral change; and do so all while utilizing the latest in AI-powered predictive analytics technologies to identify patients at risk of gaps in adherence and/or additional challenges that hold the potential to exacerbate health issues.

The opportunity to lead with empathy

Getting ahead of burnout is the goal, but it isn’t always possible. Health plans must also be prepared to take action in cases when burnout is already present with a patient. This includes improving the ability to identify burnout in all its physical, emotional, and mental forms by recognizing its signs and symptoms, such as presenting with suddenly worsening health, appearing shut down or distraught, making excuses or putting up roadblocks, expressing anger, being dismissive, or failing to follow up on action items. 

Health plans will need to take an empathetic, culturally competent, and sensitive approach to uncovering the sources of stress for each individual. When the problems are directly due to modifiable factors across the care ecosystem, plans should explore how to use these insights to rethink workflows or requirements that are contributing to poor experiences. Incorporating these lessons learned into the next generation of care strategies can prevent more members from falling into the same cycles and reduce the incidence of patient burnout in the future.

If health plans start now by investing in a deeper understanding of the challenges facing patients living with chronic conditions and surround them with holistic education and coaching support that reduces burdens versus magnifying them, they can set up their members living with chronic diseases for a less stressful, more joyful new year that starts and ends with better personal health management and better experiences across the entire continuum of care.  

Photo: The Good Brigade, Getty Images

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