Coronavirus has already had a profound affect on our society. While its affect on society has been extensively covered, its affects on the practice of medicine continue to evolve. Small and independent medical practices have not been immune from the pandemic. In fact, another victim of COVID are small and independent medical practices. Patients are avoiding or delaying care because of the pandemic, and the long-term result will be decreased options for patients and increased consolidation of health care.
As many as 8% of physicians have closed their practices as a result of COVID-19. That is approximately 16,000 medical practices nationwide. Nearly three quarters of physicians surveyed have indicated that COVID-19 will have significant impact on the health in their communities because of patients delaying or avoiding care during the pandemic.
In the immediate sense, avoiding medical care because of the pandemic is concerning in its own right. The long-term implications for patients of closed practices include a lack of access to medical care, or fewer options for medical care, often at already overburdened practices. Providers, on the other hand, have been asked to assume additional economic stressors from depressed revenue, while overhead – rent for office space, payment for medical equipment – remains the same. Many have been forced to reduce staff in order to save on costs.
Without good local options, many patients are turning to emergency rooms or urgent care clinics for their care. And each comes with its own risks for patients.
Now, many physicians were already overworked before the pandemic, and it is reasonable to expect that when the pandemic starts to ease, physicians will see an overwhelming surge of patients trying to catch up on their care. Avid readers will recall some of our discussions of the contributors to and fall out of physician burn out.
Finally, the closing of small, independent medical offices is further contributing to the larger trend of medical care consolidation, as physicians migrate to larger conglomerates.
