NEWSWIRE
versity – set out to determine how pervasive the problem was.
When patients arrive at a hospital and are showing signs of a stroke, they often get a brain scan so doctors can identify what kind of stroke has occurred and choose the most effective treatment. Many hospitals, includ- ing Barnes-Jewish Hospital, use software known as RAPID to analyze such brain scans. Kansagra and colleagues assessed how often the software was used in Febru- ary, before the pandemic, and during a two-week period from March 26 to April 8, when much of the country was under shelter-in-place orders. In total, the software was used for 231,753 patients at 856 hospitals. During February, the software was used for an average of 1.18 patients per day per hospital. During the pandemic period, software use per hospital averaged 0.72 patients per day, a drop of 39%.
“Across the board, everybody is affected by this decrease,” said Kansagra, who is also an assistant professor of neurosurgery and of neurology. “It is not limited to just hospitals in urban settings or rural commu- nities, small hospitals or large hospitals. It is not just the old or the young or the people with minor strokes who aren’t showing up. Even patients with really severe strokes are seeking care at reduced rates. This is a widespread and very scary phenomenon.” There’s no reason to believe people sud- denly stopped having strokes. And the drop was large even in places where COVID-19 cases were few and hospitals were not over- whelmed, so patients should not have found it unusually difficult to obtain treatment. “I suspect we are witnessing a combina- tion of patients being reluctant to seek care out of fear that they might contract CO- VID-19, and the effects of social distancing,” Kansagra said. “The response of family and friends is really important when a loved one is experiencing stroke symptoms. Often- times, the patients themselves are not in a position to call 911, but family and friends recognize the stroke symptoms and make the call. In an era when we are all isolating at home, it may be that patients who have strokes aren’t discovered quickly enough.” Even during a pandemic, it is critically important for people who may be experi- encing a stroke to receive care immediately, Kansagra said. The risk of delaying care for a stroke is much greater than the risk of contracting COVID-19.
WHO commemorates smallpox eradication
On May 8, 1980, the 33rd World Health Assembly officially declared he world and all its peoples have won freedom from
8
smallpox.’ The declaration marked the end of a disease that had plagued humanity for at least 3,000 years, killing 300 million people in the 20th century alone. It was ended, thanks to a 10-year global effort, spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO), that involved thousands of health workers around the world to administer half a billion vaccinations to stamp out smallpox. The US $300 million price-tag to eradicate smallpox saves the world well over US $ 1 billion every year since 1980.
Speaking at a virtual event hosted at WHO-HQ, involving key players in the eradication effort, WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “As the world confronts the COVID-19 pandemic, humanity’s victory over small- pox is a reminder of what is possible when nations come together to fight a common health threat.”
Dr. Tedros highlighted that smallpox eradication also offers hope for efforts to eliminate other infectious diseases, includ- ing polio, which is now endemic in just two countries. To date, 187 countries, territories and areas have been certified free of uinea worm disease, with seven more to go. And the fight against malaria has so far resulted in 3 countries and territories certified as malaria-free. In the case of Tuberculosis (TB), 57 countries and territories with low TB inci- dence are on track to reach TB elimination.
Premier Inc. survey shows hospitals’ COVID-19 testing must triple before surgeries resume Premier Inc. has released survey results finding that healthcare facilities need to ex- pand their current COVID-19 testing capac- ity by at least 211 percent in order to even partially resume full services, including elective procedures and diagnostic services. While survey data indicates that 80 per- cent of respondents would like to increase their ability to conduct on-site COVID-19 testing, the main factors limiting these efforts are shortages of chemical reagents needed to perform the test (cited by 41 percent of respondents) and shortages of viral swabs (cited by 40 percent). According to survey data, 81 percent of
respondents intend to screen all employees for symptoms of COVID-19, including tem- perature and other symptom checks before resuming non-emergency procedures. However, given the limitations on testing supplies, only 32 percent said they will be able to proactively administer COVID-19 tests to all front-line healthcare workers, and only 22 percent will be able to test all ancillary employees such as foodservice workers or janitors. Until supplies are more readily available, 44 percent said they
June 2020 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS •
hpnonline.com
would have to limit testing to employees that are symptomatic. Further, 59 percent of respondents said they would have to limit re-testing of front-line workers to only those that show symptoms of having contracted COVID-19.
“A core component of any reopen- ing strategy is broad testing capacity to minimize resurgence of COVID-19,” said Premier President Michael J. Alkire. “However, current restrictions on capacity and shortages of swabs and reagents force health systems to limit testing, prioritizing patients and front-line workers who are symptomatic. Even with these strict conser- vation protocols, capacity needs to at least triple before enough is available to support even a partial restoration of non-emergency services. This represents a major challenge to patient care, as an inability to offer elec- tive procedures and diagnostics can mean a missed opportunity to detect preventable illnesses early or begin treatments that are necessary for health and wellness.” For patients, 87 percent of respondents intend to proactively administer COVID-19 tests to any patient admitted for an elective procedure, but only 27 percent said they would be able to proactively test patients undergoing a diagnostic service. Most respondents (54 percent) will continue to bar any family members or other visitors from the facility in order to reduce the risk of spreading infection and conserve avail- able testing.
“Without adequate supplies, health systems are having to make hard choices to be as judicious as possible with their COVID-19 testing capacity,” continued Alkire. “To reach an ideal state where testing is available for all healthcare work- ers, patients and caregivers, capacity will need to vastly expand. Premier is working proactively to identify additional sources of swabs and reagents to expand needed capacity. At Premier, our goal is to ensure that all our members have the right test, for the right person, at the right time.” To assist members in their efforts to
expand testing, Premier announced the formation of the COVID-19 Testing Advi- sory Panel. The Advisory Panel is made up of executives from Premier member health systems, large employers and other nation- ally recognized leaders who will assist in the creation of robust testing plans, assure test- ing is available for employers, provide rec- ommendations for the best use of available testing technologies, align testing supplies and capacity with anticipated laboratory needs, create best practices and technical assistance to improving testing and surveil- lance programs, and ensure member access to accurate tests and equipment. HPN
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
