The recent COVID-19 pandemic has had drastic financial implications on primary care practices throughout the country owing to reduced office visits and fees. These losses can dramatically increase if there is a second wave later in the year. This could ultimately lead to the closure of many practices.
A study published in Health Affairs, details the implications of primary care practices shutting down due to increased financial burdens. A loss of $67,774 per full time physician is expected for primary care practices. Further estimates have shown that it would take $15.1 billion to neutralize the revenue losses faced by these practices due to the pandemic. 87% of respondents have limited in person visits and around 60% were unable to do any video visits, according to a survey.
Primary care practices play a very fundamental role in the community. They support on an average 4 support staff. Closure of these practices would not only lead to all those people losing their jobs but could also force some practicing primary care physicians many of whom are over 60 years into early retirement, further compounding the already prevalent shortage of primary care. Practice closures can also compromise access to care, especially for patients dealing with chronic illnesses like hypertension and diabetes. According to Sanjay Basu, director of research and population health at Collective Health, “This could weaken the U.S. health system dramatically at a time when we need it to be at its strongest.”
This pandemic clearly highlights the importance of primary care. It is through primary care that the comorbidities that can make COVID-19 so deadly are treated, thus reducing the spread of the virus. It also helps people deal with the social and psychological challenges of quarantine and living in such a stressful time.
By: Sanya Bansal