Becker's Hospital Review

102 CMO / CARE DELIVERY How UW Medicine, Mayo Clinic + others are tackling a backlog of surgical cases By Kelly Gooch and Georgina Gonzalez M ore than 18,000 procedures were postponed at Seat- tle-based UW Medicine amid the pandemic, and as of March 1, Indianapolis-based IU Health identified at least 5,000 to 6,000 surgical cases in its backlog. These numbers are not uncommon, as many hospitals and prac- tices have delayed nonurgent surgeries during surges to make space for COVID-19 patients and focus all resources on fighting the pandemic. U.S. hospitals saw a 35 percent decrease in operating room volume from March to July 2020, according to a McKinsey report. Many patients were le in limbo, unsure as to when their day for surgery would come. "e impact on surgery is incredibly broad," Patricia Turner, MD, executive director of the American College of Surgeons, told NPR in February. "It's going to be felt for a long time." Working through the backlog As the latest COVID-19 surge has died down, many hospitals are now tackling the mountain of backlogged surgeries. Paul Calkins, MD, vice president and associate chief medical exec- utive of IU Health, said in addition to the system's surgical backlog there's also a similar backlog of gastrointestinal endoscopies. Addi- tionally, he identified backlogs in interventional radiology and the health system's cardiac catheterization labs, although he couldn't pro- vide firm numbers for those. Amid the backlog of surgeries, IU Health continues efforts to reduce the number, while also performing other ongoing care. "ere's still ongoing care that develops every day, so if we even went back to 100 percent of our pre-pandemic production, we still couldn't catch up our backlog because that's just ongoing care we're still pro- viding," Dr. Calkins said. "So, we need to come up with a strategy to increase above our normal surgical capacity, and like every other hospital probably in the U.S., we've taken losses in staffing — both physician and nonphysician, so it's going to be difficult for us to make up all of those losses." Dr. Calkins also pointed to the high patient volumes the health sys- tem is experiencing, even with its COVID-19 census declining. "at's almost certainly a reflection of delayed care over the last couple years. Even without catching up our surgical volume, we're dealing with historically high inpatient census numbers, so it's go- ing to be very difficult, and I don't know that we've finalized how we're going to make it yet. We're still working our way through. Some of our [16] hospitals have managed to essentially turn back on their flow of surgeries and take a run at it, but others have not yet made that leap. Everyone's resumed surgery, but not everyone is at full yet," he explained. As hospitals across the country tackle surgeries delayed during the pandemic, there are various challenges. For example, many peo- ple have had their procedures delayed for months. erefore, their preoperative evaluations have expired, their medications may have changed, and they need to go back and see their primary care doctor or a perioperative clinician to ensure they're adequately prepared, Dr. Calkins said. Taking time off work is also a factor people must consid- er before they have their procedure. Young people turn to TikTok to self-diagnose By Georgina Gonzalez A lthough TikTok has been use- ful in bringing mental health issues to the forefront and en- couraging open conversation, some young people are using the platform to self-diagnose, Everyday Health re- ported Feb. 28. The mental health community on TikTok is growing and has aided in destigmatizing diagnoses. It has helped some young people, who right now are suffering through an unprecedented mental health crisis, seek help, according to the report. However, without adequate educa- tion or access to professionals, Tik- Tok mental health "experts" may be the first place young people turn to, which can be problematic. "Social media is a first line of informa- tion for a huge demographic. Many millennials and Generation Z mem- bers check social media more than the news, which makes the informa- tion received there extremely valu- able," Akua Boateng, PhD, a licensed psychotherapist in Philadelphia, told Everyday Health. Some young people are looking to TikTokers to self-diagnose mental health disorders, and those assess- ments are often incorrect, according to John Tholen, PhD, a retired cogni- tive psychologist in Seal Beach, Calif. "As any professional can attest, mak- ing a psychiatric diagnosis is a com- plicated process that often requires subtle distinctions. There is a big dif- ference between experiencing symp- toms and having a disorder," he told Everyday Health. Dr. Tholen recommends instead that people turn to professionals to seek advice and discuss symptoms they may be experiencing. A professional will be able to give an accurate diag- nosis and make sure the condition is not physical or treatable in other ways, he said. n

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