Omar Núñez

Responsibility with no authority is the most demeaning thing…and it’s the story of healthcare. Clinicians have responsibility to answer their patients’ questions…but no authority to book patients for more than 10-minute visit lengths. That’s the time squeeze set by admin/corporations running the clinic… Patients have responsibility for their health…but no authority over the resources they need to better it — specialist visit? Need a referral. Medication? Need prior auth. Surgery? Out of network… Clinicians have responsibility for patient satisfaction, but no authority to fix staffing shortages, long wait times, dirty bathrooms…again, third parties hold the power (and the budget) to fix those issues… Healthcare works together as a team, but we’ve unfortunately allowed our authority to be stolen by third parties: insurance, corporations, private equity, etc…the misbalance between power and responsibility is where we are all left disenfranchised. No wonder burnout is so prevalent, for clinicians and patients both.