COVID-19 Infection and Ambulatory Surgery: Decision Making based on Known Knowns

ABSTRACT

During the spring of 2020, as COVID-19 infections rapidly spread across the globe, all sectors of healthcare, everywhere, would change in ways that were unimaginable. Early on, the ambulatory surgery space, being no exception, would suffer deep and impactful reductions in patient volume and revenue. Though actual care stoppages were short lived, decreased ambulatory surgical patient volumes continued for a myriad of reasons, though in some cases, Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) provided surgical care in limited numbers to patients who were "offloaded” from inpatient lists. Released March 24, 2020, herein, we address key perioperative issues as they relate to COVID-19 and ambulatory surgery including the many complexities and challenges of a new and rapidly changing virus, the impact of viral infection and vaccine development on perioperative outcomes, key ambulatory surgical approaches to COVID-19 related patient and staff safety, and lastly, managing issues related to both supply chain (PPE and other necessary equipment) and facility staffing.