Medical Misinformation Surges, Hampering Patient Care, Survey Finds

Medical misinformation and disinformation have reached alarming levels in the United States, dramatically affecting physicians’ ability to deliver quality care, according to a new survey released by The Physicians Foundation.

The survey, which gathered responses from over 1,000 U.S. physicians, reveals that 86% believe medical misinformation has increased compared to five years ago, with approximately half reporting a “significant increase” in false health information circulating among patients.

“Misinformation and disinformation have the potential to undermine decision-making,” said Dr. Gary Price, president of The Physicians Foundation. “They can delay or even prevent needed care and, beyond that, impede the patient-physician relationship, which is so critical to delivering good care and getting good outcomes.”

The timing of this surge coincides with several societal factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, increased political polarization, and global conflicts where misinformation has been weaponized. But experts point to social media as the primary driver behind the unprecedented scale of the problem.

“What is new is that the advent of social media has changed how quickly that information can be disseminated,” Price explained. “People who are skilled at using social media become trusted through constant contact with the people who follow them. They also bring the availability of a huge community of like-minded people to reinforce ideas that are put out on the internet.”

The consequences for healthcare delivery are substantial. Sixty-one percent of physicians reported their patients have been influenced by misinformation or disinformation “at least a moderate amount” over the past year. More than half indicated that dealing with false information has significantly impacted their ability to deliver quality care.

Rural physicians face an even greater challenge, reporting nearly twice the frequency of misinformation problems compared to their urban and suburban colleagues. While the survey didn’t explore the reasons behind this disparity, it clearly demonstrates that geographic factors play a role in how misinformation spreads and impacts care.

The time constraints of modern medical practice exacerbate the problem. Physicians already struggling with limited patient interaction time must now spend precious minutes addressing misconceptions before they can begin addressing actual health concerns.

“In an environment where the time that they have available to spend with their patients has already become increasingly limited, they’re having to spend time dealing with misinformation,” Price noted. “This adds tremendously to our frustration and not being able to spend enough time with our patients actually dealing with their health.”

What’s particularly concerning is a potential blind spot in how physicians view their ability to counter misinformation. Despite acknowledging the severity of the problem, almost all physicians surveyed believe they have adequate resources to address misinformation with their patients—a confidence that doesn’t align with public health outcomes such as vaccination rates.

“I think it reflects a blind spot that our patients are getting information from a channel that we really haven’t paid enough attention to,” Price said. “Our public health structure in particular needs to look in much more depth at ways we can deliver complex medical information in simple ways, in a manner that’s consistent and trustworthy.”

Rather than arguing with sources of misinformation, which Price says is rarely productive, health professionals need new approaches to patient communication that can match the immediacy and accessibility of social media channels. This might require developing evidence-based communication strategies tailored to different patient populations.

The problem of medical misinformation isn’t entirely new—Price recalls patients in the 1970s who believed scientific evidence against tobacco was a conspiracy. However, today’s digital environment both accelerates the spread of falsehoods and offers new opportunities for countering them.

“Just as the misinformation can be shared and disseminated quickly now, there’s absolutely no reason why more accurate information that people can understand can’t be presented just as rapidly,” Price said. “That is the upside of the current media environment.”

As healthcare providers grapple with this growing challenge, the survey highlights an urgent need for innovative approaches to rebuild patient trust in medical expertise—particularly when time with patients is already severely constrained by administrative burdens and the pressures of modern healthcare delivery.