From the American Academy of Family Physicians National Research Network, Leawood, KS (MKF, EC, AW, CMH, JC); Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies, Washington, DC (MC, JMW, YJ); Department of Family Medicine, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO (JC).
J Am Board Fam Med. 2021 May-Jun;34(3):489-497. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2021.03.200502.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disrupted and undermined primary care delivery. The goal of this study was to examine the financial impacts the pandemic has had on primary care clinicians and practices.
The American Academy of Family Physicians National Research Network and the Robert Graham Center distributed weekly surveys from March 27, 2020, through June 15, 2020, to a network of more than 1960 physicians. Responses to the question, "Could you please tell us about any financial impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on your practice, if any?" were analyzed using a grounded theory approach of qualitative analysis. The number of unique respondents who answered the financial impact question totaled 461 over the 12 weeks.
Severe declines in patient visits, causing drastic revenue reductions, greatly impacted the ability to serve patients. Primary care clinicians and practices experienced significant changes in several areas about financial implications: patient visits, financial strain, staffing and telehealth.
Preliminary findings revealed that even with Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as CARES Act, funding, business viability remains questionable for some primary care practices.
Low patient visits directly resulted in decreased revenues, which in turn, impacted staffing decisions and fueled telehealth implementation. It is difficult to predict whether patient visits will increase after June. Alternate payment models could provide some financial stability and address business viability.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）打乱并破坏了初级保健服务的提供。本研究的目的是检查大流行对初级保健临床医生和实践的财务影响。
美国家庭医师学会国家研究网络和罗伯特·格雷厄姆中心（Robert Graham Center）从 2020 年 3 月 27 日至 2020 年 6 月 15 日，向一个由 1960 多名医生组成的网络每周发送调查。对以下问题的回答进行了分析：“请您告诉我们 COVID-19 大流行对您的实践有任何财务影响，如果有的话？”使用定性分析的扎根理论方法。在 12 周内，共有 461 位回答财务影响问题的唯一受访者。
患者就诊人数的严重下降导致收入急剧减少，极大地影响了为患者服务的能力。初级保健临床医生和实践在几个与财务影响有关的领域经历了重大变化：患者就诊、财务压力、人员配备和远程医疗。
初步发现表明，即使有冠状病毒援助、救济和经济安全法案（CARES 法案）的资助，一些初级保健实践的业务生存能力仍然值得怀疑。
患者就诊次数的减少直接导致收入减少，进而影响人员配备决策，并推动远程医疗的实施。很难预测 6 月之后患者就诊次数是否会增加。替代支付模式可以提供一些财务稳定性并解决业务生存能力问题。
