Throughout March and April, hospitals across the US have been guided by the American College of Surgeons (ASC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to postpone elective procedures. These recommendations have been put in place to prevent exposure of medical staff and patients to COVID-19 and to allow the use of resources including masks, ventilators and beds for COVID-19 patients in critical condition.

Eric Chapman, Medical Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Volumes for many elective procedures, especially in orthopaedics, have been reduced by an estimated 70%, while knee replacements and colonoscopies have virtually stopped. This is going to reduce revenues necessary to maintain hospital operations”.

“As a result, hospitals are beginning to lay off medical staff during a time when healthcare workers are already overworked to deal with the COVID-19 crisis. It is counterintuitive that we are seeing a reduction in medical workforce when almost a million people in the US are infected with COVID-19.” 

Adding to the financial strain of reduced procedures is the added cost of buying more supplies and personal protection equipment (PPE) to prepare for the influx of COVID-19 patients entering intensive care units (ICU). Hospitals have gone from making millions of dollars per month to losing tens of millions.