Operational Impacts of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic and Early Recovery Trends: University of Washington Anatomic Pathology Experience

Miller, Timothy I.; Smith, Kelly D.; Gonzalez‐Cuyar, Luis F.; Swanson, Paul E.

doi:10.5858/arpa.2020-0639-sa

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…7 Clinical laboratories have experienced similar transformations. Like other US laboratories, 8 - 11 our anatomic pathology volumes decreased during the pandemic. We also ramped up COVID molecular testing using multiple platforms, a strategy employed by other institutions.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

COVID-19 Pandemic Spurs Evolution of an Academic Pathology Department and Laboratory

et al. 2021

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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused much suffering through disease and death, disruption of daily life, and economic havoc. Global health infrastructure has been challenged, in some cases failing. In the United States, the inability of laboratories to provide adequate testing for the causative pathogen, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, has been the subject of negative press and national debate. Even so, these challenges have prompted pathology practices and clinical labs to change their organizations and operations for the better. The natural positive evolution of the University of Oklahoma Department of Pathology and OU Health Laboratories has been greatly accelerated by the global pandemic. While developing a substantial COVID testing response, our department of pathology and laboratories have evolved a much nimbler organizational structure, established an important research partnership, built a translational research resource, created a significant reference lab capability, and completed many key hires against a national background of hiring freezes and pay cuts. Also, the high visibility of the clinical lab and pathologists during the outbreak has reinforced the value of lab medicine to patient care across our health system. In the midst of significant ongoing changes to the structure and financing of our underlying organizations, high trust among departmental, hospital, health system, and medical school leadership during the pandemic has promoted these positive changes, allowing us to emerge much stronger from this crisis.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

COVID-19 Pandemic Spurs Evolution of an Academic Pathology Department and Laboratory

et al. 2021

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“…The changes in specimen numbers may help understand which areas of clinical care were affected most during the pandemic and are at risk to suffer long term effects. The Netherlands has a nationwide database containing all pathology reports since 1991 (PALGA), which creates an outstanding opportunity to study this impact and to explore which areas were affected most, balancing single institutional reports [ 7 – 11 , 14 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While medical staff working in the frontline were stretched to their limits, the workload for some other healthcare workers diminished. Among them were pathologists who received less specimens than usual, especially during lockdown [ 5 – 11 ]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on diagnostic pathology in the Netherlands

Velthuysen

Eeden

Cessie

et al. 2022

BMC Health Serv Res

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Background The COVID-19 pandemic has a huge impact on healthcare provided. The nationwide pathology registry of the Netherlands, PALGA, offers an outstanding opportunity to measure this impact for diseases in which pathology examinations are involved. Methods Pathology specimen numbers in 2020 were compared with specimen numbers in 2019 for 5 periods of 4 weeks, representing two lockdowns and the periods in between, taking into account localization, procedure and benign versus malignant diagnosis. Results The largest decrease was seen during the first lockdown (spring 2020), when numbers of pathology reports declined up to 88% and almost all specimen types were affected. Afterwards each specimen type showed its own dynamics with a decrease during the second lockdown for some, while for others numbers remained relatively low during the whole year. Generally, for most tissue types resections, cytology and malignant diagnoses showed less decrease than biopsies and benign diagnoses. A significant but small catch-up (up to 17%) was seen for benign cervical cytology, benign resections of the lower gastro-intestinal tract, malignant skin resections and gallbladder resections. Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on pathology diagnostics in 2020. This effect was most pronounced during the first lockdown, diverse for different anatomical sites and for cytology compared with histology. The data presented here can help to assess the consequences on (public) health and provide a starting point in the discussion on how to make the best choices in times of scarce healthcare resources, considering the impact of both benign and malignant disease on quality of life.

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“…Every country has established new procedures and protocols for the treatment and diagnosis of various pathologies, dividing their national health facilities into COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 wards. Due to the sudden appearance of this epidemiological emergency in the form of a pandemic, the restrictions imposed due the characteristics of the epidemiological event (in this case, COVID-19, a disease with airborne transmission and a high risk of contagion), and the necessity to move almost the whole healthcare force toward providing COVID-19-related services, the clinical and surgical activities of many specialists have declined, influencing patients' access to high-quality medical services and decreasing patients' satisfaction with healthcare referrals, thus influencing the quality of life for patients diagnosed with skin cancers [11].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of and Adaptations Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Histopathological Diagnosis of Skin Pathologies, Including Non-Melanocyte and Melanoma Skin Cancers—A Single-Center Study in Romania

Cocuz

Niculescu

et al. 2021

Medicina

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Background and Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has globally affected health systems and services. Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) are the most common malignancies around the world. This study aimed to analyze the differences in the benign and malignant histopathological diagnoses performed on radical excision skin tumors and skin biopsies in the dermatopathology ward in Mures Clinical County Hospital, Targu Mures, Romania, 1 year prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic, to emphasize the changes in the diagnostic process as per the new regulations. Materials and Methods: A total of 1168 histopathological diagnoses were included in the study—302 from the COVID-19 period and 866 from the non-COVID-19 period—considering the number, type, and frequency of the histopathological diagnoses as variables to be analyzed. Results: In the COVID-19 period, out of the 55 NMSC and melanoma histopathological diagnoses, 50.9% (n = 28) were BCCs, 20% (n = 11) were SCCs, 10.9% (n = 6) were basosquamous cell carcinomas, and 18.18% (n = 10) were melanoma cases. Regarding the non-COVID-19 period, out of the 173 NMSC and melanoma histopathological diagnoses, 46.82% (n = 81) were BCCs, 22.54% (n = 39) were SCCs, 7.51% (n = 13) were basosquamous cell carcinomas, and 23.12% (n = 40) were melanoma cases. Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, a decrease in histopathological diagnoses at the dermatopathology ward in our hospital was observed, for both benign and malignant pathologies, especially for NMSCs and melanomas, compared to the same period 1 year prior to the pandemic.

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Operational Impacts of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic and Early Recovery Trends: University of Washington Anatomic Pathology Experience

Cited by 3 publications

References 21 publications

COVID-19 Pandemic Spurs Evolution of an Academic Pathology Department and Laboratory

COVID-19 Pandemic Spurs Evolution of an Academic Pathology Department and Laboratory

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on diagnostic pathology in the Netherlands

The Impact of and Adaptations Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Histopathological Diagnosis of Skin Pathologies, Including Non-Melanocyte and Melanoma Skin Cancers—A Single-Center Study in Romania

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