COVID-19 Prolonged Specialist Appointment Wait Times
The pandemic increased specialist appointment wait times and caused millions of patients to delay healthcare. Now, there is a significant number of patients waiting weeks or months to see a specialist or undergo a procedure. Hospitals and clinics are seeking tools to identify the most efficient and appropriate care setting to manage this backlog and keep patients out of the emergency department.
Learn How To:
- Deploy eConsults to reduce patient wait times.
- Manage referrals to make certain urgent care needs are met.
- Increase your service offering and practice at the top of your license.
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6 Ways Virtual Consultations Mitigate the Impact of COVID-19 for Providers
By Peter Anderson, MBA, AristaMD advisor | Featured in HIT Consultant
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the use of virtual consultations to help keep patients out of waiting rooms and emergency departments, in hopes to reduce exposure and spread of the virus. Even so, it should not be news to healthcare stakeholders that patients experienced delayed healthcare in 2020. An estimated 1 in 3 Americans delayed care during this time, with 53 percent of respondents in a recent large-scale survey stating that they are worried about catching COVID-19 if they visit medical facilities.
Several factors motivated patients to defer even necessary care:
- State, county, or municipal stay-at-home orders.
- Increasing financial concerns due to the economic downturn of 2020.
- Fear of exposure to COVID19 within medical settings.