Financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on an academic otolaryngology department.

Abstract

ObjectiveTo quantify the financial impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) pandemic on an academic otolaryngology department.MethodsA year‐over‐year comparison was used to compare department revenue from April 2020 and April 2021 as a percentage of baseline April 2019 activity.ResultsAt the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic in April 2020, total department charges decreased by 83.4%, of which outpatient clinic charges were affected to the greatest extent. One year into pandemic recovery, department charges remained down 6.7% from baseline, and outpatient clinic charges remained down 9.9%. The reduction in outpatient clinic charges was mostly driven by a decrease in in‐office procedure charges.ConclusionGiven that precautions to mitigate the risk of viral transmission in the health care setting are likely to be long‐lived, it is important to consider the vulnerabilities of our specialty to mitigate financial losses going forward.