An Evaluation of Neurosurgical Practices During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic. World Neurosurg 2021 Feb;146:e91-e99
Date
10/17/2020Pubmed ID
33065352Pubmed Central ID
PMC7550862DOI
10.1016/j.wneu.2020.10.025Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85096838912 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 4 CitationsAbstract
OBJECTIVE: We sought to understand how the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has affected the neurosurgical workforce.
METHODS: We created a survey consisting of 22 questions to assess the respondent's operative experience, location, type of practice, subspecialty, changes in clinic and operative volumes, changes to staff, and changes to income since the pandemic began. The survey was distributed electronically to neurosurgeons throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.
RESULTS: Of the 724 who opened the survey link, 457 completed the survey. The respondents were from throughout the United States and Puerto Rico and represented all practices types and subspecialties. Nearly all respondents reported hospital restrictions on elective surgeries. Most reported a decline in clinic and operative volume. Nearly 70% of respondents saw a decrease in the work hours of their ancillary providers, and almost one half (49.1%) of the respondents had had to downsize their practice staff, office assistants, nurses, schedulers, and other personnel. Overall, 43.6% of survey respondents had experienced a decline in income, and 27.4% expected a decline in income in the upcoming billing cycle. More senior neurosurgeons and those with a private practice, whether solo or as part of a group, were more likely to experience a decline in income as a result of the pandemic compared with their colleagues.
CONCLUSION: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic will likely have a lasting effect on the practice of medicine. Our survey results have described the early effects on the neurosurgical workforce. Nearly all neurosurgeons experienced a significant decline in clinical volume, which led to many downstream effects. Ultimately, analysis of the effects of such a pervasive pandemic will allow the neurosurgical workforce to be better prepared for similar events in the future.
Author List
Pelargos PE, Chakraborty AR, Adogwa O, Swartz K, Zhao YD, Smith ZA, Dunn IF, Bauer AMAuthor
Karin R. Swartz MD Assistant Dean, Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Health PersonnelHumans
Neurosurgeons
Neurosurgical Procedures
Pandemics
Personal Protective Equipment
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States
