Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented radiology volume loss and substantial changes in case mix This study seeks to identify the specific sources of procedural volume loss and recovery in a large academic system at the epicenter of the pandemic Materials and Methods: All procedures performed during the first 33 weeks of 2020 in the Department of Radiology of a large academic health system were reviewed retrospectively Data included modality, billed current procedural terminology (CPT) codes, and patient service location Each procedure was assigned to 1 of 8 categories: biopsy, drainage, enteric access, venous access, neuro (both spinal and cerebral), oncology, vascular (both arterial and venous), and other For analysis of the effects of COVID-19, volumes were aggregated weekly and a “surge” period was defined beginning with the first local COVID-19 positive patient and ending when new daily cases crossed below 25% of the peak Results: There were significant decreases in all categories during the surge period The largest declines were seen in vascular (-52%), biopsy (-44%), and oncology (-43%) procedures and the smallest in venous (-14%) and enteric (-12%) access When stratified by site of service, there were relative increases over baseline in inpatient oncology (+44%), biopsy (+18%), and enteric access (+10%) procedures following the surge Conclusions: During the local COVID-19 outbreak, procedural volume loss was offset by increasing the department’s role in providing venous and enteric access The relative increase in inpatient interventional oncology and biopsies during the recovery is likely multifactorial but may support prior assertions that delayed diagnosis and treatment due to the pandemic has resulted in more severe disease at presentation [Formula presented]
Abstract No. 234 Interventional radiology case mix changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic