New data on trust, burnout, safety, and AI readiness
Trust holds care together—between patients and clinicians, and between clinicians and their organizations. When it erodes, everything downstream suffers.
Our 2026 Healthcare Trends Report draws on data from 3,800+ providers, 60,400+ patients and surfaces four patterns worth watching:
Trust is the #1 driver of patient experience—but what earns it isn't universal. The factors that build or break trust vary widely, from feeling cared for as a person, to staff teamwork, to ease of access. A one-size-fits-all strategy misses more patients than it reaches.
Clinician burnout is rising—and it's showing up in patient outcomes. Burnout rose from 31% to 32% year over year. Burned-out clinicians score measurably lower on communication quality, collaboration, and psychological safety. The connection between workforce experience and patient experience is real.
Safety culture is the strongest predictor of clinician resilience. Care settings with the highest safety culture ratings see 13% predicted burnout prevalence. Those with the lowest? 93%. The drivers are specific: prioritizing patient safety and ensuring physical safety at work.
Healthcare workers feel AI-ready. Confidence in organizational AI strategy still lags behind. Individual AI comfort jumped 17 percentage points in a single year. But confidence in organizational AI strategy still trails individual readiness by 16 points—a gap that widened year over year.
The report covers:
- What builds trust on each side of care—and how to tailor your strategy
- How burnout erodes care quality and what levers actually move it
- Why safety culture drives more outcomes than any other single factor
- How to close the gap between workforce AI readiness and organizational strategy
Download The Report Now!
