Are patients “quietly quitting” your medical practice? Here’s how to change that

For many physicians and practice leaders, “quiet quitting” has typically referred to medical professionals stepping away from the practice due primarily to burnout or related emotional stress. But the newer type of quiet quitting in the last several years is patients leaving a practice without a word, particularly younger people who expect a robust digital experience.

Patients leaving one doctor to see another is a long-standing problem for practices. In fact, fewer than 65 percent of patients say they will definitely stay with their provider, according to Accenture’s 2026 Patient Experience Benchmark Survey of 10,000 people. At the same time, Americans’ trust in their doctors has fallen in just a few years. Gallup’s annual poll found only about half (57 percent) rank medical doctors as having high ethics in 2026, compared with 77 percent in 2020.

With the rise of urgent care clinics luring patients away from physician practices, and hospitals telling us their C-suites rank patient experience high among top strategic priorities, practice leaders are now under more pressure than ever to attract new patients and retain the ones they already have.

From what I see across the industry, the current scenario creates enormous opportunities for physicians and practice leaders to build trust with their patients, and delivering a more engaging experience is one of the more important ways for the medical community to rebuild that trust. But it won’t happen naturally. Instead, leaders have to prioritize tactics that foster trust, sustain engagement and bolster the practice’s broader performance.

Laying the foundation for a better patient experience

Most physician practices have plenty of opportunities to improve how patients access their services, how they communicate with patients and how they leverage technologies to improve the patient experience. Those same factors just so happen to be core building blocks of experiences that shape patient trust and loyalty.

But trust alone does not guarantee patients will be loyal to a doctor or practice if access is challenging. Increasing access to physicians begins with ensuring that patients can easily search for the practice, schedule an appointment and get in to see a doctor without lengthy wait times. “When they describe the experience as ‘very easy’ nearly 9 in 10 will stay,” Accenture explains. But like any other encounter in life, if patients experience roadblocks in front of any of those, they will likely look for an alternative.

Physician practice leaders also recognize the need to effectively communicate with patients before, during and after a clinical visit. MGMA poll results show medical practice leaders are prioritizing efforts to enhance patient access, online scheduling, phone access and wait times. MGMA recommends that during appointments doctors maximize communication by asking open-ended questions and listening to patients while being careful not to interrupt them, and that they implement asynchronous communication tools for appropriate post-visit follow-up.

When it comes to overall patient experiences, provider organizations that strategically invest in improvements can “earn disproportionately more than they spend,” according to Deloitte research. “Investments in patient experience increase costs but increase revenue even more.” A 2024 Accenture survey found that organizations that prioritize customer-centric services can grow revenue 3.5 times more than those that approach patient experience as just a cost center.

Building on that foundation to modernize care services

Taken together, rebuilding trust to retain patients and improve financial performance are worthy pursuits. And they also align with patient satisfaction. That same 2024 Accenture survey found that people who are satisfied with the care they receive are 4.6 times more likely to trust their provider.

There’s yet another benefit to building patient trust with better experiences. That work positions medical practices to engage patients in new or emerging care models and digital health tools that can make physician practices more efficient while improving health outcomes for the people they serve.

Trusting patients are far more willing to adopt digital tools, virtual care and emerging models of service. As Accenture explains in its Patient Experience Benchmark report, “getting the core drivers of trust right will be essential to bringing patients along in their evolution.”

Dan D’Orazio is CEO of Sage Growth Partners, a leading health care growth strategy and marketing firm with over 20 years’ experience in advising health care providers, payers and technology vendors.