Aetna has spent the last several years working to repair a relationship that has long been fractured — the one between health insurers and the doctors, hospitals, and health systems they pay. The effort appears to be yielding results. A new survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of Aetna found that provider trust scores climbed from an average of 5.4 out of 10 earlier this year to 6.1 in the most recent poll. Nearly forty percent of the 723 provider executives surveyed gave health plans a score of eight or higher, suggesting that at least some of the industry’s long-standing animosity may be softening.
Katerina Guerraz, chief operating officer for Aetna, told Fierce Healthcare that the turnaround traces back to a strategic shift in mid-2024 when the company made building what she called a frictionless experience for providers a central priority. That meant confronting the administrative headaches that consistently rank among providers’ top complaints. More than half of those surveyed said prior authorization requests were a significant burden, while large shares also pointed to re-entering patient information and submitting claims as daily frustrations. Aetna turned to technology to chip away at those problems, and providers are noticing — more than thirty percent expect new tools will save them over an hour, while eighty percent anticipate saving at least half an hour.
Interoperability is another major focus area. Sixty-eight percent of surveyed providers identified data sharing and integrity as their biggest technology challenge, and nearly a third said access to real-time patient data would be the single most meaningful step an insurer could take to support clinical work. Guerraz called interoperability the one thing that could transform healthcare faster than anything else, though she acknowledged it requires investment from both sides.
Beyond surveys and tech upgrades, Aetna has also been convening leaders from major hospitals and health systems in forums aimed at sustaining an ongoing conversation about where improvements are still needed. For Guerraz, all of these efforts ultimately circle back to the people sitting in the exam room. If improving the provider experience translates into a better experience for patients, then the work is doing what it was designed to do.