PD60-12 IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON UROLOGY CARE DELIVERY IN THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

You have accessJournal of UrologyHealth Services Research: Practice Patterns, Quality of Life and Shared Decision Making V (PD60)1 Sep 2021PD60-12 IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON UROLOGY CARE DELIVERY IN THE UNITED STATES Daniel Lee, Jeremy Shelton, Paul Brendel, Rahul Doraiswami, Danil Makarov, William Meeks, Raymond Fang, Matthew Roe, and Matthew Cooperberg Daniel LeeDaniel Lee More articles by this author , Jeremy SheltonJeremy Shelton More articles by this author , Paul BrendelPaul Brendel More articles by this author , Rahul DoraiswamiRahul Doraiswami More articles by this author , Danil MakarovDanil Makarov More articles by this author , William MeeksWilliam Meeks More articles by this author , Raymond FangRaymond Fang More articles by this author , Matthew RoeMatthew Roe More articles by this author , and Matthew CooperbergMatthew Cooperberg More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1097/JU.0000000000002097.12AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookLinked InTwitterEmail Abstract INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: We determined the national impact over time of the COVID-19 pandemic on outpatient urology visits and procedural volume. METHODS: We examined temporal changes in urologic care delivery in the United States from February 2020 to July 2020 based on patient, practice, and local/regional demographic and pandemic response features using real-world data from the American Urological Association Quality (AQUA) Registry, which is a Qualified Clinical Data Registry. Data are collected via automated extraction from practices’ electronic health record systems. RESULTS: There were 2,750,001 unique patients represented in our study cohort, accounting for 8,953,832 total outpatient visits and 1,570,161 procedures; data represented 157 outpatient urologic practices and 3,165 providers across 48 US states and territories. We found large (>40%) declines in outpatient visits from March 2020 to April 2020 across all patient demographic groups and across states, regardless of timing of state stay-at-home orders. Visits recovered through May and early June, but began falling again by early July. Non-urgent outpatient visits decreased more across various non-urgent procedures (39–47%) than for procedures performed for urgent diagnoses (29–43%); surgical procedures for non-urgent conditions also decreased more (37–53%) than those for potentially urgent conditions (13–21%) (Table). African American and Hispanic patients had smaller decreases in outpatient visits compared with Asian and Caucasian patients, but also slower recoveries back to baseline. Medicare-insured patients had the steepest declines (50%) while those on Medicaid had among the lowest percentage of recovery to baseline (84.4%). Practices in zip codes with lower median incomes, higher poverty levels, and lower urologist to population ratios had smaller decreases in outpatient visits. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides timely, real-world evidence on the magnitude of decline in the provision of specialty care across demographic groups and practice settings, and demonstrates a differential impact on the utilization of urologic health services by sociodemographic strata and specific diagnoses. Source of Funding: Grant number K12HS026372 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and Verana Health © 2021 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 206Issue Supplement 3September 2021Page: e1065-e1065 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2021 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.MetricsAuthor Information Daniel Lee More articles by this author Jeremy Shelton More articles by this author Paul Brendel More articles by this author Rahul Doraiswami More articles by this author Danil Makarov More articles by this author William Meeks More articles by this author Raymond Fang More articles by this author Matthew Roe More articles by this author Matthew Cooperberg More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...