2 things we can do to free up hospital beds
Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, has called upon the medical community to identify additional hospital beds in anticipation of more COVID-19 patients needing immediate care.
One idea is to transfer cancer patients from large health systems and community hospitals that are treating COVID-19 patients to specialty cancer centers until COVID-19 cases are under control.
We could put this in place almost immediately.
Doing so would:
❚ Reduce the possibility of exposing an immune-compromised cancer patient to those with COVID-19.
❚ Allow community hospital staff to focus on patients with COVID-19.
❚ Free up beds at large health systems and community hospitals.
❚ Reduce or eliminate disruption for COVID-19 patients and others who can’t afford an interruption in treatment, such as cancer patients.
This idea doesn’t just make sense for cancer patients. We should temporarily transition heart patients and others when possible to specialty care hospitals instead of postponing or canceling visits because beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Patients with cancer and other chronic conditions are still going to need care. If that treatment is pushed off, it may allow diseases to progress and create even more stress on the health-care system down the road.
If specialty hospitals have the right surgical equipment, they also can perform other types of surgery to free up more beds and staff at the hospitals treating COVID-19 patients and conditions commonly treated in an ER.
This would allow Arizona to keep COVID-19 cases contained where possible and medical teams focused on treating one type of patient, thus increasing capacity, speed, separation and focused expertise.
Under normal circumstances, a move like this would be a nonstarter because most hospital systems and insurance providers prefer to serve as a one-stop shop for patients. But we are not operating under normal circumstances and need to identify more creative solutions that benefit all patients in the short and long term.
Arizona’s health-care system has the ability to do two more things almost immediately:
1. Cross-credential doctors to treat patients who are transferred to specialty hospitals.
This would allow a doctor from a community hospital to perform a surgery or treatment when a patient is transferred to a specialty hospital. That way, we maintain the continuity of care, and physicians can continue practicing in their specialty area and providing the greatest value to the patient.
2. Leverage telehealth to provide continued care to patients who cannot travel and to provide more robust peerto-peer consultation services to rural and community hospitals. Telehealth can also reduce unnecessary in-person hospital visits, limiting the possibility of immune compromised people becoming unnecessarily exposed to COVID-19.
Most hospitals have this capacity already, but we can use it in more situations to help reduce patient flow in at out of hospitals without compromising patient care. In many instances, telehealth can help reduce waiting times for patients. It also can free up areas of the hospital typically used as waiting rooms.
Ultimately, “flattening the curve” is contingent on having enough capacity — beds, ICUs, supplies and clinicians — to handle the spike in need presented by COVID-19.
We can help accomplish Dr. Christ’s vision of creating more room at the large health systems and community hospitals while ensuring cancer patients and others who need critical care do not get left behind during this national emergency. By working together, we can find ways to ensure all patients get the care they need, and that necessary cancer surgeries and treatment are not put on hold.
Pat A. Basu, MD, MBA, is president and CEO of Cancer Treatment Centers of America, which has facilites across metro Phoenix. Dr. Basu served as a White House fellow and senior adviser and played a key role in helping execute portions of then-President Obama’s economic and health agenda.