Severe cases of COVID-19, including long-term symptoms, had Lisa Weindel, administrator at St. Louis-based Center for Urologic Surgery, reassessing patient risk. The pandemic also caused her center to take a less budget-friendly approach to supply chain management.
Here's what she told Becker's ASC Review about those changes:
Note: Responses were edited for style and clarity.
Question: Could long-haul COVID-19 patients affect which cases ASCs take on?
Lisa Weindel: We have revamped our pretesting and anesthesia screening for patients that have had severe cases of COVID-19.
Recommendations include waiting at least:
- 12 weeks for patients who were admitted to an ICU for COVID-19
- Eight to 10 weeks for symptomatic COVID-19 patients with diabetes, severely low immune defenses or required hospitalization
- Six weeks for symptomatic COVID-19 patients with a cough or difficulty breathing, but didn't require hospitalization
- Four weeks for mild or asymptomatic COVID-19
We continue to monitor guidance from the ASA, CDC, and state and local agencies. We almost need a full-time person just ensuring we are keeping up with all the available research. We have not changed what cases we are doing, but continue to educate ourselves on risks to patients after COVID-19 infections.
Q: How will supply chain strategy change for ASCs? Will there be more investment to prepare for future global emergencies?
LW: Our supply chain efforts have also changed. We had to commit to a higher level than anticipated at set prices. It's not budget-friendly, but we are unable to predict what future strains of the virus may do to the resources, and we are competing with very large health systems in our areas.
If not for the foresight of our very capable veteran supply manager, Sue Pratt, we would not have made it successfully through this last year. She has had wonderful relationships for years with multiple vendors, so we were able to utilize those relationships to keep an adequate supply. But times are very uncertain, especially with raw materials, so insight, education, relationships and attentiveness to market turns are crucial.
I am grateful for our dedication as a team to ensuring we have the necessary materials and for our ability to turn on a dime and source the needed materials. That is potentially an advantage for smaller centers that don't require 15 signatures to make a vendor change.