Kossaify Mikhael, Kanj Hazar, Tarabay Christina, Kossaify Antoine
Department of Cardiology, School of Medicine and Medical Sciences, USEK University, Kaslik, Lebanon.
Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Heart Views. 2022 Apr-Jun;23(2):86-92. doi: 10.4103/heartviews.heartviews_87_21. Epub 2022 Jul 23.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a new unexpected worldwide condition with a heavy burden on health-care institutions and health-care workers.
We sought to examine the impact of COVID-19 on workload and workflow in the echocardiography unit in a tertiary care university hospital.
We conducted a monocentric observational study, evaluating workload and workflow during the COVID-19 year relative to the previous year.
The findings show a substantial reduction in workload (55.20%) along with significant changes in workflow in the echocardiography unit during the pandemic. Changes in workflow involved measures implemented for protection, changes in echo indications which became more selective, changes in echo pattern, reduction in human flow in echocardiography laboratory, delays in reporting and archiving, and changes in training and teaching.
COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial impact on the echocardiography unit, with a significant reduction in workload and considerable changes in workflow. In the future, it is essential to be better prepared as individuals, health-care workers, health-care institutions, and the general community, to deal better with any potential "invisible enemy."
新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）大流行是一种新出现的、意想不到的全球状况，给医疗机构和医护人员带来了沉重负担。
我们试图研究COVID-19对一所三级护理大学医院超声心动图科室工作量和工作流程的影响。
我们进行了一项单中心观察性研究，评估COVID-19期间相对于前一年的工作量和工作流程。
研究结果显示，在大流行期间，超声心动图科室的工作量大幅减少（55.20%），同时工作流程也发生了显著变化。工作流程的变化包括为保护而实施的措施、超声心动图检查指征变得更具选择性、超声心动图模式的变化、超声心动图实验室人流量的减少、报告和存档的延迟以及培训和教学的变化。
COVID-19大流行对超声心动图科室产生了重大影响，工作量显著减少，工作流程发生了相当大的变化。未来，个人、医护人员、医疗机构和普通社区必须做好更好的准备，以便更好地应对任何潜在的“隐形敌人”。
