How Is COVID-19 Impacting Procedure Volume?
Jenna Riffell, PhD
Understanding The Changing Healthcare Landscape Is Key For Commercial Strategy
Treating Patients During A Crisis
The spread of COVID-19 has disrupted the healthcare industry. With hospitals scrambling to prepare for an influx of patients and government officials enacting large-scale safety measures, the overall volume of medical procedures is decreasing dramatically. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other healthcare thought leaders are recommending that providers limit non-essential and elective scheduled surgeries and procedures. However, not all procedures are equally impacted.
While COVID-19 is reducing treatment volume, the degree of impact varies depending on the urgency of the condition and the treatment setting. Procedure-focused companies must understand this evolving environment to forecast accurately and make crucial business decisions, such as resource deployment, commercial spending, and launch planning. Due to the fast pace of this pandemic and the corresponding response of the healthcare community, it can be difficult to predict the risks and disruptions organizations face. Without clear insight into the near-daily changes that medical professionals encounter, many companies’ strategic plans are no longer actionable.
How COVID-19 Impacts Orthopedics
The Kx team analyzed the consequences of COVID-19 for the orthopedic field, exploring trends that could inform expectations for the coming weeks and months. Our survey of orthopedic specialists across the US highlights that in most areas of the country, urgent and emergent procedures are still being performed, but elective procedures are being canceled.
The only orthopedic procedures that are being performed treat truly urgent conditions: cases of infection and trauma. However, even critical treatments like these are being performed at a lower volume than before COVID-19 emerged in the US.
Lessons Learned For Other Specialties
Our case study in orthopedics serves as an opportunity for companies focused on other specialties to apply insights to their fields. With ~97% of orthopedic specialists only performing urgent procedures (if at all), healthcare professionals and companies can expect to see similar trends throughout the industry. As ~38% of orthopedic specialists are not rescheduling at this time, organizations throughout the healthcare industry must adjust their expectations and expect the repercussions of COVID-19 for an extended period.
Kx Advisors, Experts In Resilience
Is your organization impacted by the sharp decline in procedures due to COVID-19? Kx Advisors can help. Our experts offer tailored guidance in forecasting, commercial strategy, and launch planning, projecting future trends and empowering your organization to adapt during a global pandemic or another unpredictable event. Our team will continue to monitor trends over time to help predict which procedures are resuming and when, giving your organization current data to inform your key business decisions.
