{"id":2363652,"date":"2020-05-13T08:42:15","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T12:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.futurity.org\/?p=2363652"},"modified":"2020-05-13T08:42:15","modified_gmt":"2020-05-13T12:42:15","slug":"elective-surgeries-guide-coronavirus-2363652","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.futurity.org\/elective-surgeries-guide-coronavirus-2363652\/","title":{"rendered":"Guide suggests which elective surgeries can resume"},"content":{"rendered":"
Data on a broad range of common operations show which ones will draw most on scarce resources.<\/p>\n
As fast and sharp as a cut from a scalpel, the coronavirus pandemic forced hospitals across America to slash elective surgical cases in March and April to slow the risk of infection and make room for surges of patients.<\/p>\n
The pandemic disrupted or diverted the supply of resources that surgery cases need\u2014from protective gear and blood to intensive care beds and ventilators. And the virus started to hit the skilled nursing facilities and home health companies that many post-operative patients need to recover.<\/p>\n
Now, as hospitals across the country start to return to doing non-emergency operations that keep their beds full and their books balanced, they need to think carefully about what resources each of those procedures will need as the pandemic continues.<\/p>\n
A new guide could help them prioritize and plan.<\/p>\n
Created by poring over seven years’ worth of data from 17 common operations in dozens of hospitals, it’s now available for free<\/a> for any hospital to use.<\/p>\n COVID-19 clusters in nursing facilities may affect bed availability\u2014or the desire of patients to enter one if their family can’t visit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The team that created it comes from the Michigan Value Collaborative, which pools and shares data from hospitals across Michigan in order to find opportunities to reduce variation and spend healthcare dollars more wisely.<\/p>\n Based at the University of Michigan, MVC has a treasure trove of years of data from 87 hospitals and 40 physician groups across the state.<\/p>\n When COVID-19 struck, MVC director Hari Nathan and his colleagues realized that these data could help hospitals understand which operations are most resource-intensive, from incision to post-hospital care.<\/p>\n They started by creating customized reports for each of the hospitals that take part in MVC, to help them see patterns in their own data.<\/p>\n Then they made the public report, based on statewide averages. They hope it will help hospitals everywhere as they balance resource constraints with the need to get “back to business” to stay financially viable.<\/p>\n “This is important information, because it shows you can’t do all of your backed up CABGs in one week,” says Nathan, referring to coronary artery bypass graft surgery, which the review shows required intensive care unit beds in 91% of cases. They also had an average hospital stay of nine days\u2014during which staff might have to don and discard a large amount of scarce personal protective equipment to protect against COVID-19 transmission.<\/p>\n Then there’s the question of where the patient goes after the hospital. The guide shows that only 12% of CABG patients were discharged directly home with no health aides; the majority of the rest needed in-home help while a sizable number were sent to nursing or rehabilitation facilities<\/a>.<\/p>\n COVID-19 clusters in nursing facilities may affect bed availability\u2014or the desire of patients to enter one if their family can’t visit. And home health aides need PPE and may be in shorter supply if recovering COVID-19 patients need their care.<\/p>\n