Managed Healthcare Executive reviewed monthly procedure volumes from an unidentified commercial health plan’s medical claims dataset and reported key findings Jan. 11. The health plan has more than a million members.
Here’s what you should know:
1. In April 2020, procedure volume fell about 50 percent, and recovered by June. The drop in April represented 1.4 million procedures accounting for a medical spend of about $200 million.
2. From March 2020 to May 2020, the health plan members stopped receiving colonoscopies. Regular volume of 7,500 colonoscopies a month dropped to just 500 per month.
3. Although colonoscopy volume recovered in June, the delay accounted for a deficit of 15,000 colonoscopies.
4. The deficit could result in 12 preventable deaths from colon cancer, according to estimates from the Journal of Medical Screening.
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Stryker’s ASC-focused business: 3 things to know
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