Hospital visit volumes for most treatment settings slowed to a
standstill during much of the summer as the COVID-19 pandemic
continued to weigh on patients. Ongoing analysis from TransUnion
Healthcare (NYSE: TRU) found emergency department visits were down
25% through the third week of August compared to pre-COVID-19
volumes.* This is the same level observed eight weeks prior when
emergency department visit volumes were also down 25% during the
week of June 21-27.
This laggard trend in emergency department visit volumes are
partly a result of patients avoiding hospital emergency rooms
because of COVID-19 transmission fears,1 as well as an increased
use of alternative treatment settings (i.e. telehealth/virtual
visits, urgent care, physician’s office, etc.).2
When looking at inpatient and outpatient treatment settings, the
updated analysis of 500+ hospitals across the United States
observed inpatient volumes remained 8% below pre-COVID-19 volumes
during the week of August 16-22, which is the same level recorded
in late June. Further, many inpatient admissions from the emergency
department were also impacted and remained low in part due to the
sustained decline in emergency department visits. In contrast,
outpatient visit volumes have essentially returned to normal
levels, down only 2% when compared to pre-COVID-19 volumes.
“As we track healthcare utilization, we’re seeing hospital visit
recovery for emergency department and inpatient settings stagnating
below normal levels which may reflect patients’ continued concerns
with the safety of hospital settings due to COVID-19,” said David
Wojczynski, President of TransUnion Healthcare. “These latest
recovery trends emphasize the uncertainty that’s ahead, and our
analysis can help hospital providers best respond to the ongoing
operational and financial challenges of the pandemic.”
Healthcare visits by children continue to lag at the
greatest rate
TransUnion Healthcare also analyzed the key differences between
adult and child visit volumes between March 1-7 and August 16-22,
revealing mixed trends across hospital treatment settings in
August:
- Emergency Department: Adult visit volumes
continued to trend higher than child visit volumes, though the
overall trend has seen minimal improvement in the last two months.
Adult volumes were down 16% during the week of August 16, while
child visit volumes were down 58%.
- Inpatient: Child visit volumes have returned
nearly back to pre-COVID-19 volumes, down only 2% during the week
of August 16. Adult volumes were down 9% for the same time
period.
- Outpatient: Adult volumes for outpatient care
were slightly lower than pre-COVID-19 volumes, down 1% – driven in
part by significantly higher-than-normal visits from Gen Z patients
– whereas child volumes were down 23%.
“In addition to parents’ concerns of COVID-19 transmission, a
number of factors may contribute to the sustained, low levels of
child visits including limited in-person education and a lack of
organized extracurricular activities,” said James Bohnsack, Senior
Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at TransUnion Healthcare.
“As a result of the combination of these lower levels of child
visit volumes and suspended non-urgent medical procedures, revenues
for many children’s hospitals have flattened amidst the pandemic.”
3
In light of these trends in child procedure volumes, children’s
hospital organizations continue to struggle financially. Some
relief has been provided by the Department of Health & Human
Services (HHS) which allocated approximately $13 billion in CARES
Act and Paycheck Protection money for pediatric and adult safety
net hospitals. And recently, it announced that the Health Resources
and Services Administration has distributed over $1.4 billion in
Provider Relief Funds to freestanding children’s hospitals across
the nation.
Patients with low-acuity diagnoses avoiding the
emergency department
When analyzing patient admitting diagnoses within the emergency
department setting between March 1-7 and August 16-22, TransUnion
Healthcare found that volumes for higher acuity diagnoses continued
to experience a faster return vs. low acuity diagnoses, though
child visits remain lower than adults.
- Less-acute diagnoses: Adult visits for
less-acute diagnoses such as cough and ear pain were down 74% and
31% respectively, and child volumes were down 89% for cough and 63%
for ear pain. Interestingly, child visits for fevers remained well
below pre-COVID-19 volumes and have stayed around the same level in
the time since COVID-19 was named a pandemic, down 81%.
- More-acute diagnoses: Adult visits for
more-acute diagnoses such as throat/chest pain were down 19%
compared to pre-COVID-19 volumes and child visits were down 34%
during the week of August 16.
These trends in emergency department admitting diagnoses further
underscore the likelihood that patients are seeking treatment in,
and are becoming more comfortable with, alternative care settings
(i.e. telehealth/virtual visits, urgent care, etc.) which are often
more efficient and effective options for non-emergent medical
concerns such as cough, ear pain and fevers. This shift is
promising for the healthcare industry, particularly when
considering the consistent issue of emergency department
over-utilization in the United States, as it could lead to reduced
healthcare costs overall if it endures beyond COVID-19.
Relief strategies for healthcare providers
“While relief funds such as those allocated by HHS can help to
offset some of the financial challenges brought on by COVID-19, the
industry as a whole faces a long road to recovery,” said Bohnsack.
“At the same time, hospital providers must implement the
appropriate engagement and revenue recovery strategies to address
these financial difficulties in the short term and to achieve
pre-COVID-19 volumes in the long term."
The ongoing uncertainty around recovery and visit volumes
underscores how important it is for hospital providers to think
about all sources of revenue and consider holistic revenue recovery
and patient engagement programs that meet patient payment needs,
increase revenue, improve satisfaction and allow providers to be
more nimble amidst the pandemic.
For more information on the impact of COVID-19 on the healthcare
industry, as well as additional resources from TransUnion
Healthcare, visit transunion.com/healthcare-covid-19.
*TransUnion Healthcare defines pre-COVID-19 volumes as the
average weekly visits measured during the first 8 full weeks of the
year, from the weeks of January 5-11 through February 23-29.
1 JAMA Internal Medicine - Learning From the Decrease in US
Emergency Department Visits in Response to the Coronavirus Disease
2019 Pandemic2 AHA Market Scan - The Latest Developments Driving
the Transformation of Care (08.11.20) 3 Children’s Hospital
Association - Children’s Hospitals’ Statement on Essential COVID-19
Relief (08.20.20)4 TransUnion: Out-of-Pocket Costs Rising Even as
Patients Transition to Lower Cost Settings of Care (06.25.2019)
About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)
TransUnion is a global information and insights company that
makes trust possible in the modern economy. We do this by providing
a comprehensive picture of each person so they can be reliably and
safely represented in the marketplace. As a result, businesses and
consumers can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We
call this Information for Good.®
TransUnion Healthcare, a wholly owned subsidiary of TransUnion,
makes mutual trust possible between patients, providers, and payers
by helping them navigate payment uncertainty. Our Revenue
Protection® solutions leverage comprehensive data, accurate
insights and industry expertise to engage patients early, ensure
earned revenue gets paid and optimize payment strategies.
TransUnion Healthcare helps over 1,850 hospitals and 550,000
physicians collectively recover more than $1.2 billion annually in
revenue.
A leading presence in more than 30 countries across five
continents, TransUnion provides solutions that help create economic
opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for
hundreds of millions of people.
http://www.transunionhealthcare.com
Contact |
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Dave Blumberg |
|
|
TransUnion |
E-mail |
|
david.blumberg@transunion.com |
Telephone |
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312-972-6646 |
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