Becker's ASC Review

21 HEALTHCARE NEWS 65% of people who had COVID-19 in first wave still have smell dysfunction: 3 findings By Nick Moran In a small study of 100 people who contracted COVID-19 in the first wave, more than half have long-term changes to their sense of smell, according to preliminary research published Jan. 20 by MedRxiv. In the early days of the pandemic, temporary loss of smell emerged as a common indicator of COVID-19. However, not much is known about long-lasting effects on olfactory dysfunction. To establish prevalence 18 months aer infection, researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden ran tests on 100 healthcare workers who had COVID-19 in the first wave of spring 2020. Since it was early in the pandemic, none of the volun- teers were vaccinated at the time of infection. Scientists ran the same tests on a control group of people who tested negative for COVID-19 an- tibodies. About a fih had deficiencies in sense of smell, implying that smell disorders were common in the general population before the pandemic. e study has yet to be peer reviewed. ree things to know: 1. Overall, 65 percent of participants who had COVID-19 displayed either a loss of smell, a reduced sense of smell, or distortions to the sense 18 months aer infection, compared to 20 percent of those who had not had COVID-19. "Given the amount of time since [the] initial in- sult to the olfactory system, it is likely that these olfactory problems are permanent," according to the authors. 2. A third of participants had a reduced ability to detect odors, and nearly half had parosmia, where sense of smell is distorted. 3. Aer 18 months, only 3 percent had lost sense of smell entirely. Early U.K. study findings suggest that a loss of smell or taste is much less common with omicron than the delta variant, but Johan Lund- ström, PhD, an author of the Karolinska Institute study, told e Guardian that there isn't reliable data demonstrating that omicron is any less dangerous to the olfactory system. n Does virtual care save money? Cigna study says yes, up to $141 per visit By Nick Moran V irtual care isn't just see- ing an increase in patient volume amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but also an increase in patient savings, according to a Cigna analysis shared with Becker's. The analysis reviewed data from members utilizing services from its telehealth subsidiary, MDLive, which Cigna purchased in April. "We are squarely focused on bring- ing the highest-value solutions to our customers, which includes op- timizing how they connect to and receive quality care, in a convenient way that meets their lifestyles," said Shawna Dodds, vice president of product development at Cigna. "For many of our customers, virtual care continues to be the best way to meet their needs in a cost-effec- tive manner." Five things to know from the analy- sis: 1. The analysis estimates that de- pending on the type of virtual care, virtual visits can save members as little as $93 per visit versus low- acuity care and as much as $141 per visit versus using an urgent care facility. Patients also save on aver- age $120 per visit on specialist care by using virtual visits. 2. Using MDLive also decreased the need for lab visits, resulting in $118 in savings per episode of care for urgent care episodes. 3. More than 75 percent of mem- bers who used MDLive in 2020 did not have a primary care physician. 4. Two-thirds of members who used MDLive virtual screenings identified a health condition. 5. Compared to patients using brick and mortar providers, MDLive patients reported 19 percent fewer emergency room and urgent care visits. n Integrating text analytics into EHR helps alleviate clinician burnout, study shows By Katie Adams U sing advanced text analytics to assess EHR inbox messages can help clinicians improve their workflow and eliminate unnecessary work- loads, according to a study published Jan. 20 in the American Journal of Managed Care. To identify physicians' different work themes and their relative share of workload, the research team trained an advanced text analytics model on primary care physicians' Epic EHR inbox messages. They used one year's worth of inbox messages for 184 physicians from 18 practices. The model found that 50.8 percent of the EHR messages were about medical issues and 34.1 percent were about administrative matters. The researchers said text analytics can provide a "data-driven methodology" to understand individual physicians' EHR inbox management, allowing them to make informed decisions on redesigning workflows. n

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