Patel Kishan, Rashid Arnav, Spear Luke, Gholamrezanezhad Ali
Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
Department of Biological Sciences, Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
Life (Basel). 2023 Apr 6;13(4):962. doi: 10.3390/life13040962.
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic ushered in rapid changes in healthcare, including radiology, globally. This review discusses the impact of the pandemic on various radiology departments globally. We analyze the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the imaging volumes, finances, and clinical operations of radiology departments in 2020. Studies from health systems and outpatient imaging centers were analyzed, and the activity throughout 2020 was compared to the pre-pandemic activity, including activity during similar timeframes in 2019. Imaging volumes across modalities, including MRI and CT scans, were compared, as were the Relative Value Units (RVUs) for imaging finances. Furthermore, we compared clinical operations, including staffing and sanitation procedures. We found that imaging volumes in private practices and academic centers decreased globally. The decreases in volume could be attributed to delayed patient screenings, as well as the implementation of protocols, such as the deep cleaning of equipment between patients. Revenues from imaging also decreased globally, with many institutions noting a substantial decline in RVUs and revenue compared with pre-COVID-19 levels. Our analysis thus found significant changes in the volumes, finances, and operations of radiology departments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行在全球范围内给包括放射学在内的医疗保健领域带来了迅速变化。本综述讨论了该大流行对全球各放射科的影响。我们分析了2020年COVID-19大流行对放射科成像量、财务状况和临床运营的影响。对来自医疗系统和门诊成像中心的研究进行了分析，并将2020年全年的活动与大流行前的活动进行了比较，包括2019年类似时间段的活动。比较了包括MRI和CT扫描在内的各种成像方式的成像量，以及成像财务的相对价值单位（RVUs）。此外，我们还比较了临床运营情况，包括人员配备和卫生程序。我们发现，全球范围内私人诊所和学术中心的成像量均有所下降。量的下降可归因于患者筛查的延迟，以及诸如患者之间设备深度清洁等方案的实施。成像收入在全球范围内也有所下降，许多机构指出，与COVID-19之前的水平相比，RVUs和收入大幅下降。因此，我们的分析发现，由于COVID-19大流行，放射科的量、财务状况和运营发生了重大变化。
