Now that we are more than eight months into the novel coronavirus, you might think that hospitals in the United States, the wealthiest nation in the world, would have the supplies they need to provide health care services through the flu season. HealcareDive reports that you might want to think again.
Hospitals are doing better when it comes to personal protective equipment for their workers, but they are likely to struggle to secure the supplies they need to address the flu and COVID-19 this fall. Many will not be prepared for an influx of patients.
The federal government now has a Strategic National Stockpile. And, many states are requiring hospitals to stockpile PPE. But, these requirements could end up creating shortages, if the need is in other locations. They also cost hospitals a lot of money.
Right now, accessing the stockpiles is challenging. There is no good coordination. Hospitals do not know who has what or how much inventory. And, there are no rules for determining who should be able to access the stockpiles and under what circumstances.
The problem is bigger than hospitals systems or regions of the US or even the entire nation. It extends to Europe and Asia. The global supply chain is weak. Time well tell the size of the problem as we get deeper into flu season and the novel coronavirus continues to rage.
On top of that, one in five hospital executives are right now extremely concerned about their hospitals’ financial viability. Another half of hospital executives are moderately concerned. They will remain concerned until there is a COVID-19 vaccine.
The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that hospital admissions are falling again. They are 10 percent lower than projected. And, of course, that affectsFlu their bottom lines.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Coronavirus: Hospitals sue patients to collect payment
- Which states have hospitals that deliver appropriate care, good patient outcomes and invest in their communities?
- Big non-profit hospitals put revenue ahead of social mission
- Why aren’t hospitals designed with older patients in mind?
- If commercial insurers paid hospitals Medicare rates, spending would drop 31 percent
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