Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

17 PATIENT SAFETY Mayo, Cleveland Clinic CEOs: Delayed care deaths may mirror COVID-19 toll By Morgan Haefner T he U.S. recorded more than 100,000 COVID-19 deaths May 27. It's likely the death toll is the same for people who've avoided the hospital for fear of contracting the virus, the CEOs of Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic wrote in a June 9 op-ed in The New York Times. Cleveland Clinic's Tomislav Mihaljevic, MD, and Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic's Gianrico Farrugia, MD, said while stay-at-home orders and guidance to defer nones- sential care slowed the spread of COVID-19, those poli- cies, coupled with the loss of employer-sponsored health plans for many, meant patients put off critical care. Several studies cited in the op-ed found new cancer di- agnoses are down 45 percent; reported heart attacks are down 38 percent; and strokes are down 30 percent. Emergency department visits are also down by as much as 40 percent, but the patients who are going are much more sick from delaying care, according to findings from a Mayo study. Drs. Mihaljevic and Farrugia urged patients with serious conditions to return to their providers. "The true cost of this epidemic will not be measured in dollars; it will be measured in human lives and human suffering. In the case of cancer alone, our calculations show we can expect a quarter of a million additional preventable deaths annually if normal care does not resume," they wrote. n Moving toward a 'new normal': How hospitals are convincing patients it's safe to come back By Anuja Vaidya T oward the end of April and in May, states lied restrictions on health- care operations implemented at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Hospitals were faced with the challenge of encouraging patients to seek care in places they previously were told to avoid, while also ensuring their safety. Chronically ill patients and even those with emergency medical needs have been avoiding seeking care at medical facilities. According to a poll conducted in mid-May by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 48 per- cent of the 1,189 American adults surveyed said they or someone in their household had postponed or skipped medical care due to the pandemic. Emergency room visits in the U.S. dropped by more than 40 percent in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CDC data showed. e average number of weekly ER visits was 1.2 million between March 29 and April 25, a 42 percent decline from the 2.1 million visits seen during the same period last year. Patients' hesitation about seeking care amid a pandemic means that healthcare facilities need to work extra hard to assure them that they are taking the necessary precautions to ensure their safety. New York City-based Northwell Health con- ducted an online consumer reengagement study April 11-15 to more fully understand patients' concerns, Sven Gierlinger, North- well's chief experience officer, told Becker's Hospital Review. Of 828 respondents, 57 per- cent said they were scared to go to a hospital. "A post-COVID-19 environment and 'new normal' will require us to be innovative and flexible as we reimagine many of our pro- cesses and protocols," Mr. Gierlinger said. At Northwell, several steps have been taken to reduce crowding in clinics and hospitals. Practice hours have been extended, patient appointments staggered, and telehealth ser- vices promoted so patients know they have the option to seek care virtually. Patients also are encouraged to wait in their car for appointments, versus crowding waiting rooms, Mr. Gierlinger said. ey are alerted via text or phone call when their provider is ready for them. e health system also installed plexi- glass partitions and changed physical unit footprints, when necessary, in its acute and post-acute facilities, Mr. Gierlinger said. Healthcare organizations across the country are making similar shifts to make sure their patients feel safe coming back to the hospital. n "The true cost of this epidemic will not be measured in dollars; it will be measured in human lives and human suffering." - Tomislav Mihaljevic, MD, CEO of Cleveland Clinic, and Gianrico Farrugia, MD, CEO of Mayo Clinic

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