Nearly half of U.S. doctors believe the country will not have the COVID-19 crisis under control until after June 2021.
That’s according to the latest every-other-year survey out of the Physicians Foundation, released Tuesday. The vast majority of those polled by the group believe the pandemic will not be in check by January, at 86%, while 49% think summer of next year is too soon to expect resolution.
Another 72% are worried that the novel coronavirus will severely affect outcomes because of widespread delays in routine care.
“The data reveals a near-consensus among America’s physicians about COVID-19’s immediate and lasting impact on our healthcare system,” Gary Price, MD, president of the foundation, said in a statement. “Our healthcare landscape is constantly changing right now, and we expect it will be radically different for both physicians and our patients long after the pandemic passes,” he added later.
About 59% of those interviewed believe the pandemic will result in a reduction of independent physician practices. And 8% said they have already shut down their business, with another 43% reduce staff.
Merrit Hawkins conducted the survey in July via email, targeting 500,000 docs, and more than 3,500 issued responses. Tuesday’s report is the first in a three-part series. Future installments will explore physician wellbeing and the pandemic’s overall impact on U.S. healthcare.
You can read the entire 20-page report here and a summary here.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.