Abstract No. 442 The role of telemedicine in the maintenance of interventional radiology outpatient evaluation and management volume during the COVID-19 global pandemic

Purpose: To assess the impact of COVID-19 on the overall volume of IR outpatient-based evaluation and management encounters (E&M) and to demonstrate the role of telehealth in offsetting the loss of volume caused by COVID-19 Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of IR E&M in a large academic health system between January 6, 2020 and August 23, 2020, was conducted using the same time period in 2019 as a historical control IR encounters were collected by gathering the weekly volume of submitted E&M current procedural technology (CPT) codes from the IR division IR encounters were classified as outpatient or telehealth E&M The E&M volume in 2019 was used as a historical control Data were divided into three periods: pre-surge (January 6–March 15, 2020), surge (March 16–June 7, 2020), and recovery (June 8–August 23, 2020) The mean encounters per week during the surge and recovery periods were compared to the pre-surge baseline using a Welch t test for 2020 data, and the same comparison was made for 2019 data for a historical control Results: During the surge period, outpatient E&M volume, inclusive of telemedicine, fell by 55 8% relative to the pre-surge 2020 baseline The volume grew steadily during the recovery period but remained 19 8% below pre-surge 2020 levels The surge and recovery mean weekly E&M volume was significantly different from the equivalent periods in 2019 (P < 0 001 and P = 0 02, respectively) During the surge, telemedicine comprised 44 6% of the total outpatient E&M The contribution of telemedicine gradually fell over the recovery period, comprising just 11 5% in the final week of the study, and 16 7% during the recovery Outpatient E&M reached a nadir during the week of April 13th, reflecting a 70 6% decline relative to the same period in 2019 The recovery period demonstrated a gradual increase in outpatient E&M with a decline in telehealth encounters balanced by a growth of in-person visits During the last week of the recovery period (week of 8/17), outpatient in-person E&M had recovered to 2019 levels, and with the inclusion of telehealth exceeded E&M in 2019 for the same period by 93 3% Conclusions: Telemedicine becomes an important way to maintain outpatient E&M volume in the event of a pandemic when social distancing and stay-at-home orders preclude face-to-face visits Revenue from outpatient E&M may help bridge the gap until resumption of elective procedures and recovery of procedural case volume