COVID-19 has caused a decrease in revenue for more than 97 percent of medical practices, led many private practices to double down on cost-cutting measures and forced healthcare leaders to develop new ways to protect patients and staff once elective surgeries resume.
Here are four key quotes from spine surgeons on the current state of the field:
Owen O'Neill, MD. Twin Cities Orthopedics (Minneapolis): We do have a significant backlog, but will work through them based upon severity of disease and symptoms. We will be extending hours, and working on Saturdays as volume dictates... Our practice will continue robust safety measures for patients and staff. We believe that our clinical practice will flourish, and have higher demand as patients seek out centers that provide the safest environment for their care.
Brian Gantwerker, MD. The Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: We've already been in a cost-cutting mode for about three months and COVID-19 has been prompting us to be more aggressive about it. The downside is you may have healthcare workers and people working in private practices lose their jobs ... A lot of people are going to draw down on their lines of credit, max their credit cards and credit scores. I'm hoping we'll find some respite in SBA loans that may just be able to help us get back on our feet.
Alan Hilibrand, MD. Rothman Orthopaedics (Philadelphia): When operations resume there will be a lag time before revenues follow. Our first priority has always been to protect our employees — to protect them from getting the virus and also to protect their jobs. Thankfully as a large organization that doesn't carry any debt, we believe that we can weather this storm and protect our employees but things will be difficult. Inevitably, all of us will see much less income. From top to bottom, all physicians, management and employees.
Oren Gottfried, MD. Duke University School of Medicine (Durham, N.C.): I feel the coronavirus pandemic has shown us how to successfully incorporate telehealth into our practices and it will remain an important adjunct to our care. The situation has also further emphasized the importance of value-based care. We have remained very focused on improving outcomes, reducing costs and following evidence-based guidelines.