The Hertel Report

Arizona’s ability to achieve the Quintuple Aim depends on a strong, sustainable primary care system—but today, that system is under strain. Rising provider burnout, outdated data strategies built on decades-old frameworks, and ongoing financial instability are preventing healthcare organizations from meeting modern demands. The result is a system that puts patient outcomes, cost efficiency, provider well-being, and population health at risk.

While burnout rates have shown some improvement—declining from 53% in 2022 to an estimated 45% in 2025—the underlying issues remain unresolved. High patient volumes, excessive administrative burden, and increasing insurer demands continue to pull providers away from patient care. At the same time, the fee-for-service model compounds the problem by incentivizing volume over value, forcing providers into overloaded schedules with limited time for meaningful patient interaction. With Arizona projected to face a shortage of more than 1,900 primary care providers by 2035, incremental improvements will not be enough.

The core issue is not simply time spent with patients—it is the administrative workload surrounding each visit. Providers are navigating fragmented systems, chasing incomplete or outdated information, and managing an overwhelming EHR inbox. Inefficient data exchange creates a constant search for information rather than delivering it at the point of care. This lack of real-time, actionable insight leads to missed opportunities, inefficiency, and growing frustration across care teams.

Financial pressure remains constant regardless of care model. While fee-for-service requires maximizing visit volume, value-based care shifts the focus toward quality and outcomes. In both cases, success depends on operational efficiency—reducing administrative burden, minimizing errors, and enabling teams to function effectively without increasing provider workload. Clinics need systems that allow them to adapt to financial pressures while maintaining stability and performance.

There is a clear path forward. Value-based care offers a framework to improve outcomes, reduce costs, enhance provider experience, and strengthen population health. By aligning financial incentives with patient outcomes, providers can move from reactive care to proactive, data-driven management. However, realizing these benefits requires a fundamental shift in how data is accessed and used.

The future of primary care depends on automation, integration, optimization, and simplification. Systems must deliver real-time, actionable insights directly within clinical workflows—eliminating the need for providers to search across multiple platforms. Integrated, data-driven solutions can reduce administrative friction, streamline workflows, and ensure providers have a complete, accurate picture at the point of care.

MedWest is focused on enabling this transformation. By leveraging automation and real-time data integration, it removes inefficiencies that drive after-hours work and provider burnout. Instead of adding more portals, layers, or clicks, MedWest delivers actionable insights directly within the EHR—capturing critical information, closing care gaps, and ensuring seamless data flow across systems.

The result is a more sustainable model of care: providers remain focused on patients, administrative burden is reduced, and organizations can scale without adding overhead. Achieving this future requires not just new technology, but a rethinking of workflows and a commitment to simplifying how healthcare operates at its core.