symplr Compass Survey Spotlights Perpetual Crisis Culture Across Healthcare

Findings suggest clinicians are wasting even more time on administrative tasks as misalignment grows

HOUSTON, Sept. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- symplr^®, a leading provider of enterprise healthcare operations software, today released findings from its fourth annual Compass Survey, which reveal that healthcare organizations remain entrenched in crisis culture. Clinicians report spending even more time on administrative work and that growing misalignment among clinical, IT, and operational leaders is fueling burnout, staffing shortages, relentless cyber threats, and financial ramifications, all intensified by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).

The 2025 survey found financial pressures to be the top challenge across healthcare, while clinicians cite burnout and staffing (41%), operations leaders point to staffing (33%), and IT leaders are most concerned about cybersecurity (34%). The results are published in the 2025 symplr Compass Survey, "Progress Stalled: How Crisis Culture is Costing Healthcare." 

"The biggest threat to hospitals today is an uncertain financial outlook that's forcing many health systems to pause strategic initiatives," said Theresa Meadows, MS, RN, CIO in Residence at symplr. "What gives me hope is that this year's Compass Survey shows a growing urgency among healthcare leaders to align and make meaningful progress."

"This kind of industry research provides a high-level view of the healthcare landscape, delivering meaningful insights into both current realities and emerging trends," said Tressa Springmann, Senior VP and Chief Information & Digital Officer at LifeBridge Health, as well as current CHIME board chair. "Operating in a constant state of crisis is unsustainable, yet the threats persist. We must be intentional in how we design care—recognizing the essential role of an operations platform and workflows that complement those we're long-familiar with in EHR and ERP. Everyone in a health system is united by a commitment to the patient, so let's keep leaning in and solving these challenges together."

The 2025 Compass Survey Key Findings:

• Time wasted grows: 51% of clinicians report wasting more than an hour each day on administrative tasks that could be significantly reduced or eliminated using software – a five-minute increase from last year, bringing the average to 88 minutes wasted per day.
• A must-have seat at the table: 85% of clinicians say they want more influence in software purchasing decisions, which is up dramatically from 72% last year.
• Fragmented fixes lead to rising risk: 86% of IT executives report that "Shadow IT" purchasing of software occurs in their health systems – up from 81% last year – and the lack of oversight elevates their organization's security risk.
• An appetite for synergistic solutions: 73% of healthcare professionals report that consolidating healthcare operations has become a top priority or is gaining traction, with more than 75% agreeing that a unified healthcare operations platform will reduce administrative burden and drive efficiency.
• The promise of AI: The potential of non-clinical applications of AI is of interest to all health system leaders, but workflow agents for activities such as patient scheduling and claims management have added appeal for IT (69%) and C-suite/VP respondents (64%).

To access the full survey findings, download the 2025 symplr Compass Survey. 

Methodology: The 400+ survey respondents comprised clinicians, operations, and IT Leaders. symplr partnered with the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), the professional organization dedicated to serving CIOs, CMIOs, CNIOs, chief digital officers, and other senior healthcare IT leaders. Of the respondents, 33% held clinical roles, 22% IT, and 38% operational.

About symplr 
symplr is a leader in enterprise healthcare operations software and services with a first-of-its-kind operations platform. Trusted in 9 of 10 U.S. hospitals and 400+ U.S. health plans, symplr optimizes operations and maximizes care powered by our cloud-based workforce, quality, provider data management, and spend solutions. Gain efficiency, reduce complexity, and improve outcomes where it matters most. Learn how to stay ahead of change at www.symplr.com. 

SOURCE symplr