So, how has COVID-19 affected the volume of work at my department? The stats have been out and there's a stark difference in workload.
Dropping from 14117 to 10308 is a ~27% drop. I do not know how many of those are elective surgeries, but I am willing to bet that they made up a significant portion. My state did not resume most of them until early this month.
Even without knowing the actual pricing of services, that's a lot of work not performed. Can you imagine the revenue lost in that time? Is it a surprise that some health professionals had their hours cut because of the outbreak?
One thing I would like to point out is that Utah's stay at home directive came around mid-March. So, the previous month stat is already a number at reduced workload.
Let me recall the stats from beginning of the year.
Yeah, I do not have the numbers for February, so this is the closest I have.
We were at almost 19K tests performed for January this year. By April, we were doing almost half of that, about 46% less. That's how much the pandemic has affected my department alone. That is some serious drop in revenue over the course of a quarter. From surgeries to lab work, I'm sure they amount to millions.
In one of my previous posts, I mentioned how my department picked up an antigen test for COVID-19. Which by the way, I think it would be a fun one to write about. Aside from compare and contrast with the current PCR and serology methods, it's for volume. At the end of the day, the lab is a business. It needs to stay afloat or people will lose jobs.
Even as I type this out, the hospitals are preparing for a second wave, but we hope it never comes. Many of my colleagues hope it would be like the first SARS outbreak where the bug fizzled out into the summer.