Primary Care & COVID-19: Week 22 Survey

• COVID cases are rising, but the strain on practices may be holding steady for now. Sixty percent of respondents say they have seen a rise in COVID-19 illness in their communities. Yet respondents continue to rate the level of “unusual strain” on their practices due to COVID-19 at around the same levels over the past four survey rounds dating back to late August. Consistently around half of respondents rate their level of strain as a 4 or 5 out of 5. And the percent of respondents rating their strain as low (1 or 2) has ranged between 11% and 19%.

• Patients’ overall health continues to suffer due to the pandemic. Over 85% of respondents report that the mental health of their patients has decreased during the pandemic, with 31% seeing a rise in patients suffering with addiction. Over a third (37%) say their patients with chronic conditions are in “noticeably worse health resulting from the pandemic.” This is due, in part, to visits that are not happening: 56% of surveyed clinicians have seen an increase in negative health burdens due to delayed or inaccessible care.

• Practices are rising to the challenge by adapting the way they deliver care, but it may not be fast enough. Over two-thirds of practices are using telehealth for visits with patients who have stable chronic conditions, and over 60% use telehealth for mental health visits. Twenty-seven percent say they are more involved in helping patients with poor access to food, housing, and employment, and over a fifth have increased connections to community organizations.  Still, only 16% of respondents report that their practice has added capacity to help patients with mental or behavioral health, despite the increasing burden.

• Financial barriers faced by primary care practices may have lessened—for now. Only 6% of respondents say they are unable to pay some of their bills. And where reimbursement for virtual visits used to pose significant challenges to primary care, just 7% of surveyed clinicians now say that they would like to use video-based care more often but can’t because of low reimbursement. (Fifteen percent say the same for phone-based care). Today, bigger obstacles to practices include trouble hiring new staff (35%).

• COVID-19 and influenza still loom over primary care. Testing for COVID-19 remains a challenge for primary care practices, with 44% reporting that results take more than two days to receive and 26% reporting they cannot get patients tested as often as they think they should. Roughly a quarter (23%) say low amounts of PPE or reused PPE may them feel unsafe at work. Ten percent say they have no flu vaccine.

Learn more: Download the Round 22 Clinician Survey Executive Summary (includes select open-ended answers to survey questions)