Outpatient Otolaryngology in the Era of COVID-19: A Data-Driven Analysis of Practice Patterns.
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg
; 163(1): 138-144, 2020 07.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-244958
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has induced a prioritization of acute care and telehealth, affecting the quantity of patients seen and the modality of their care. STUDYDESIGN:
Retrospective review.SETTING:
Single-institution study conducted within the Division of Otolaryngology at the Yale School of Medicine. SUBJECTS ANDMETHODS:
Data on all outpatient appointments within the Division of Otolaryngology were obtained from administrative records of billing and scheduling from March 16 to April 10, 2020. For comparison, a corresponding period from 2019 was also utilized.RESULTS:
Of 5913 scheduled visits, 3665 (62.0%) were seen between March 18 and April 12, 2019, in comparison with 649 of 5044 (12.9%) during the corresponding COVID-19-affected period. The majority of completed visits performed in weeks 1 and 2 were in person, while the majority in weeks 3 and 4 were via telehealth. Among subspecialties, a larger proportion of completed visits in 2020 were performed by pediatric and head and neck oncology otolaryngologists as compared with general/specialty otolaryngologists (P < .001). Older adults (≥65 years) were less likely to have telehealth visits than younger adults (18-64 years; 45.6% vs 59.6%, P = .003).CONCLUSIONS:
A major decrease in the completion rates of scheduled visits was seen in the COVID-19-affected period, though this was not proportional among subspecialties. An associated increase in telehealth visits was observed. After COVID-19-related hospital policy changes, approximately 2 weeks passed before telehealth visits surpassed in-person visits, though this was not true among older adults.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases
/
Outpatients
/
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Practice Patterns, Physicians'
/
Telemedicine
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Otolaryngologists
/
Betacoronavirus
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg
Journal subject:
Otolaryngology
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
0194599820928987
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