austonia newsletter
Get connected with our daily update
(MangoNic/Shutterstock)
Beansprout Pediatrics was prepared for the pandemic. Its team—five pediatricians, four pediatric nurse practitioners and 25 ancillary staff—was following the coronavirus news out of China and had stocked up on personal protective equipment.
<p>"An interesting thing happened," co-owner and partner Dr. Brian Temple said. "No one got sick. Everyone stayed home."</p><p>Patient visits dropped 50% to 60%. Dr. Temple and his co-owner—who have locations in Bee Cave, Dripping Springs and Spicewood—aimed to avoid furloughs and layoffs but had to cut salaries by 30% and reduce hourly employees' shifts. "As it is, pediatrics runs on a very thin margin every month," he said. </p><p>Compared to some other practices, however, Beansprout has been spared the worst.</p><p>Three in four Travis County physicians—a full 75%—have taken a pay cut, according to a survey by the Texas Medical Association <a href="https://www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=53634" target="_blank"><u>published yesterday</u></a>. Doctor and dentist offices are responsible for the third most jobless claims in the area, after restaurants and hotels, according to <a href="https://texas2036.shinyapps.io/covid_tracker/" target="_blank"><u>Texas Workforce Commission data</u></a>. And by the end of next month, web-based mapping tool HealthLandscape—a division of the American Academy of Family Physicians—predicts Travis County will have <a href="https://healthlandscape.org/covid19/" target="_blank"><u>a shortage of family doctors</u></a>.</p><p>These are the results of the state's shutdown, which led to <a href="https://austonia.com/offices-are-closing-everywhere-as-austins-private-practices-face-revenue-loss-due-to-pandemic" target="_self"><u>sharp declines in patient visits</u></a> and <a href="https://austonia.com/health-care/private-doctors" target="_self"><u>emergency room admissions</u></a> and, for a time, banned elective procedures, threatening cash flow. In addition to lost revenue, health care providers are facing increased costs, such as for specialty medical equipment, protective gear and hazard pay for frontline workers.</p><p>Hospital systems—<a href="https://www.austinchamber.com/economic-development/austin-profile/major-employers" target="_blank"><u>some of Austin's largest employers</u></a>—are also feeling the pinch. </p><p>Baylor Scott & White committed to protecting the pay of all staff through the end of this month but, in an emailed statement, declined to say what lies ahead. "As has been widely reported, COVID-19 has had significant impacts on the operations of healthcare systems across the nation, including Baylor Scott & White," it read. </p><p>Austin Regional Clinic cut physician pay, and some staff members have accepted voluntary furloughs, <a href="https://www.kxan.com/investigations/austin-regional-clinic-physicians-management-taking-a-reduction-in-compensation/" target="_blank"><u>according to KXAN</u></a>. </p><p>St. David's HealthCare is providing 70% base pay for employees whose hours have been cut through its pandemic pay continuation program. More than 6,0000 employees across the company have received pandemic pay since March 29, which CEO David Huffstutler said has enabled the company to avoid layoffs and furloughs in an emailed statement. </p><p>Dr. Joseph Valenti, an OB-Gyn in Denton and a board member of the Physicians Foundation, said the pandemic has exacerbated existing problems—such as overhead costs increasing at a much faster rate than reimbursement from insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid. "Physician practices had been underwater for a huge amount of time," he said.</p><p>The pandemic may drive physicians out of private practice and into retirement or jobs at hospitals, large medical practices or venture capital-owned firms, which cost patients more. Dr. Valenti's business, however, is bouncing back. After a "horrible" April when patient volume was down 90%, the practice is now at about 70% capacity, which he attributes in part to the field of obstetrics. "Babies never stop being born," he said. "Pandemic or not." </p><p>Dr. Temple is seeing a similar shift, but he worries that a second surge of cases this fall or winter could lead to a more complete shutdown. He and his fellow pediatricians could find new jobs at hospitals or large medical groups, he said, even if they would rather stay in private practice. But he worries about their hourly staff. "We're dedicated to trying to keep them," he said.</p><p><em>This story has been updated to include a statement from St. David's HealthCare. </em><br/></p>
From Your Site Articles
- 'Offices are closing everywhere' as Austin's private practices face ... ›
- A dentist closing clinics waits for money from the feds as private ... ›
- Some nonessential medical procedures are back on—with conditions ›
- Baylor Scott & White Health announces 1,200 layoffs - austonia ›
- Baylor Scott & White Health announces 1,200 layoffs - austonia ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Keep Reading
Show less
Dell Children's Medical Center just announced that it will build a new, full-service hospital on Avery Ranch Boulevard in Williamson County, and that it will add a 4-story tower to the main location.
According to the release:
<p style="margin-left: 20px;">Totaling more than 135,000 square feet, the hospital will include 36 beds and emergency and trauma services, with two operating rooms, endoscopy and procedure rooms, and sleep labs, and shelled space for future growth. The north campus will also include a 60,000-square-foot medical office building and dedicated free parking.</p><p>The Mueller expansion:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">The tower will include one floor dedicated to pediatric critical care, one floor for hematology/oncology inpatient services, and another floor dedicated to general acute inpatient services, with a fourth floor shelled for future expansion.</p><p>The hospital broke ground on the <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2020/05/07/dell-childrens-to-build-new-hospital-as-part-of.html?iana=hpmvp_aus_news_headline" target="_blank">Dell Children's Speciality Pavilion</a> in March.</p>
Keep Reading
Show less
(Charlie L. Harper III)
Austin residents, worried about contracting COVID-19 themselves, are avoiding local emergency rooms.
St. David's HealthCare, which operates six ERs in Austin, has seen a nearly 50% decrease in ER visits this month compared to April 2019. Cardiac-related visits are down 55%, and stroke visits 44% for the same period.
<p>Baylor Scott & White Health locations are seeing a similar trend, ranging from a 30% to 50% decrease in ER admissions, Round Rock Emergency Department Director Dr. Ross Tobleman said. </p><p>This drop may be partly attributable to a decrease in minor injuries, such as those caused by car accidents and falls, as people stay home, Dr. Tobleman said. But both hospital systems said the main reason is patients are afraid of being exposed to COVID-19. </p><p>While ER admissions are down, those patients who do seek emergency treatment are exhibiting more severe symptoms. </p><p>"Patients are waiting until conditions are too much to bear, and then coming into the emergency department at a much later stage, and so [are] suffering more and are more likely or more susceptible to actually succumbing to the disease," said Dr. DeVry Anderson, chief medical officer at St. David's South Austin Medical Center. </p><p>This is particularly concerning for patients with symptoms consistent with heart attacks or strokes, for whom waiting to seek treatment may lead to long-term damage—or even death. "We have great interventions that can reverse those disease processes that are very time-sensitive," Dr. Tobleman said. </p><p>In addition to concerns about exposure to COVID-19, patients may also be avoiding ERs because they are intimidated by safety procedures—such as universal masking and visitor restrictions—or concerned about heeding local stay-at-home orders.</p><p>"I think people are not wanting to be a burden," Dr. Tobleman said, adding that BSW emergency departments have plenty of capacity to treat patients. "People are saying, 'There are sicker people out there than me.'" </p><p>Area urgent cares are also seeing a drop in admissions.</p><p>FastMed, which has nine urgent care locations in and around Austin, has seen "a significant downturn" in patients, Area Medical Manager Megan Fox said. She attributed the change to patient fears about contracting COVID-19 and an increased willingness to seek out telemedicine. </p><p>Fox said that FastMed has implemented new policies, such as online check-in and having patients wait in their cars to limit the number of people inside the clinic. "I really think that patients can have peace of mind visiting one of our clinics when they need to," she said. </p><p>This trend is hardly specific to Austin. More than four in five Americans said they considered visits to medical facilities risky because of potential exposure to COVID-19, according to <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/307640/americans-worry-doctor-visits-raise-covid-risk.aspx" target="_blank"><u>a Gallup poll</u></a> conducted between March 28 and April 2. </p><p>And <a href="http://www.onlinejacc.org/content/accj/early/2020/04/07/j.jacc.2020.04.011.full.pdf" target="_blank"><u>a forthcoming article</u></a> in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that, at nine hospitals with high-volume cardiac catheterization laboratories, there has been a 38% reduction in patients being treated for a very serious type of heart attack, known as a STEMI, in which one of the heart's major arteries is blocked. </p><p>In New York City, deaths are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/27/upshot/coronavirus-deaths-new-york-city.html" target="_blank"><u>six times higher than normal</u></a>—which is likely due to an undercount of COVID-19 cases as well as to other indirect effects of the pandemic, such as an increase of at-home deaths as people avoid hospitals. </p><p>"We don't want that here at St. David's South Austin Medical Center," Dr. Anderson said. "We are encouraging patients to choose care over fear." </p><p>St. David's has implemented visitor restrictions, screening measures such as temperature checks and universal testing of all surgery patients, and increased cleaning protocols; patients with COVID-19 symptoms are separated out to reduce spread. BSW has implemented similar changes. </p><p>Both doctors urged patients to seek out care—and to feel safe doing so. </p><p>"Aside from remaining in your own home, the hospital is the safest place you can be because of the incredible protocols we've put in place to protect our patients and to protect our staff," Dr. Anderson said. </p>
From Your Site Articles
- A dentist closing clinics waits for money from the feds as private ... ›
- City will require wearing 'fabric face coverings' in public under ... ›
- Austin's new contact tracing tech aims to curb the pandemic - austonia ›
- Baylor Scott & White Health announces 1,200 layoffs - austonia ›
- Baylor Scott & White Health announces 1,200 layoffs - austonia ›
Related Articles Around the Web
- Doctors worry the coronavirus is keeping patients away from US ... ›
- Americans Think Doctor Visits Substantial Raise COVID-19 Risk ... ›
- Doctors and Patients Turn to Telemedicine in the Coronavirus ... ›
- During Coronavirus Outbreak, Virtual Doctor Visits Are Encouraged ... ›
- What to Do About Routine Doctor Visits During Coronavirus | U.S. ... ›
Keep Reading
Show less
The almost complete ban on abortions stemming from an executive order issued by Gov. Greg Abbott in March has come to an end, The Texas Tribune reports:
<p style="margin-left: 20px;">The near-total ban has been the subject of weeks of litigation — starting in late March when Gov. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/" target="_blank">Greg Abbott</a> <a href="https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/EO-GA_09_COVID-19_hospital_capacity_IMAGE_03-22-2020.pdf" target="_blank">postponed</a> all surgeries not "immediately medically necessary" to preserve medical resources for coronavirus patients. Attorney General <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/ken-paxton/" target="_blank">Ken Paxton</a> <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/health-care-professionals-and-facilities-including-abortion-providers-must-immediately-stop-all#.XnkW2CKrfO8.twitter" target="_blank">said</a> the ban extended to abortions, and the politically conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals largely sided with state officials.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">But a new <a href="https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-issues-executive-order-to-loosen-restrictions-on-surgeries" target="_blank">order</a> from Abbott that took effect Wednesday allows more procedures to resume in health care facilities that agree to reserve a certain number of beds for coronavirus patients and to refrain from seeking scarce protective equipment from public sources.</p>
From Your Site Articles
Keep Reading
Show less
