Easy & Rapid Testing Remains Unavailable to Most Physicians
New laboratory tests to detect COVID-19 are clearing the Food and Drug Administration and reaching the US market faster and in volumes greater than anybody would have ever dared to expect. But so far at least, it still does not seem to be enough to satisfy the urgent demand for COVID-19 testing. That is the troubling conclusion of a new survey from Harvard Medical School, the Rand Corporation and Doximity, a professional medical network of which 70% of all US physicians are members Quick and Easy Testing Remains Elusive Conducted at the end of March 2020, the survey “Physicians Views on the Coronavirus Pandemic Response,” included 2,600 physicians. Half of the respondents said they have treated at least one patient with potential COVID-19 symptoms. When asked whether they were “currently able to test their patients for COVID-19 quickly and easily,” 73.3% of those physicians who reported treating at least one potential COVID-19 case answered “no.” Some of the other noteworthy survey findings: Close to 50% of the physicians surveyed said they believed patients are avoiding testing due to financial and health insurance concerns; Over 77% reported that they do not believe their hospital/clinic has adequate medical supplies and equipment if […]
Some of the other noteworthy survey findings:
- Close to 50% of the physicians surveyed said they believed patients are avoiding testing due to financial and health insurance concerns;
- Over 77% reported that they do not believe their hospital/clinic has adequate medical supplies and equipment if the pandemic worsens;
- Close to 70% believe that the government has not taken appropriate measures to support the medical supply chain and ensure that their hospital/clinic has the medical supplies it needs to address the pandemic;
- Close to 60% did not believe that there were enough precautions in place in their clinic to protect them from infection while treating COVID-19 patients;
- 70% did not believe the government is responding adequately to the pandemic;
- Nearly 60% believed social distancing, closing schools and travel restrictions were an appropriate reaction to the potential risks of COVID-19;
- Nearly 60% believe the stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders would do the most to “flatten the curve,” while nearly 25% believed free COVID-19 drive through and mail in testing would do the most; and
- Over 50% reported increasing their use of telemedicine in response to the pandemic.
Takeaway
“The findings highlight the difficult road ahead for healthcare providers confronting the coronavirus pandemic,” said Chris Whaley, Ph.D., lead author and Policy Researcher at the RAND Corporation in a press release. “We hope this insight on physician experiences and concerns surrounding the pandemic will help design appropriate and immediate policy response.” It is also worth noting that much has happened since the survey, including the adoption of the CARES Act and the COVID-19 acceleration of the testing pipeline. Regrettably, the physician outlook from an anecdotal basis seems to remain less than optimistic. Subscribe to Clinical Diagnostics Insider to view
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