Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center’s Heart and Vascular Center researchers partnered with the VA Hospital in White River Junction to identify cardiovascular diseases to provide care.
Since early 2020, when COVID-19 disrupted our lives, researchers at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center’s Heart and Vascular Center, in partnership with the White River Junction VA Hospital, have been dedicated to understanding more about how this new disease has affected our communities and our general well-being. -the presence when it comes to receiving vascular care.
This interdisciplinary team sought to answer two questions: Why does vascular surgery continue to decline, and which people are most affected?
The goal: To find answers to these questions using Medicare claims data and reform our health care system with the goal of making it accessible to the most vulnerable the care they need.
The research
Using national Medicare claims data, the researchers investigated whether the rate of certain blood tests returned to more “normal” levels before the disease. The Heart and Vascular research team, led by Philip P. Goodney, MD, MS, found that the use of certain types of vascular surgery was significantly affected, especially for patients at risk of health such as aneurysms or stroke. The study also showed that although all types of people were affected, young people and low-income people sought less vascular services overall.
Brianna M. Krafcik, MD, a four-year resident and research scientist at Geisel School of Medicine, shares,
“In fact, what we are seeing is that certain groups of people are more vulnerable to the lasting effects of COVID-19 on people’s behavior and patterns of care. This further reduces the that person’s strength will live long.”
Louise Davies, MD, of the White River Junction VA, who leads the VA Disrupted Care National Project (DCNP), emphasizes, “By studying which areas were most affected and who is most at risk of complications when they do not receive care. , we can know where to focus resources to increase the health of this population when we emerge from the disease.”
Restore our health and hope
This research highlights the ongoing need to continue to focus on reforming our health systems and ensuring that people get the care they need. These studies will help to ensure that health care remains accessible to the most vulnerable patients and continue to have access to specialized treatments.
The results showed significant differences in the number of common vascular surgeries performed. The surgeries used as a proxy for general conditions, the two that reduced the size of the Carotid Endarterectomy, an operation to remove blockages in the artery that supplies blood to the brain and Intact Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm repair, an operation to repair a blockage in a large blood vessel. cup in stomach.
%
Changes
Q2 2019 vs Q2 2020
%
Changes
Q3 2019 vs Q3 2020
%
Changes
Q1 2019 vs Q1 2022
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair
-46.9%
-16.3%
-25.1%
Carotid Endarterectomy
-39.5%
-22.1%
-33.5%
Great Low Price Breakout
-13.6%
-10.6%
-24.7%
Published in Annals of Vascular Surgery: “The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Vascular Surgical Care Delivery”
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