Articles: pandemics.
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Arch Orthop Trauma Surg · Apr 2024
Managing an epidemic within a pandemic: orthopedic opioid prescribing trends during COVID-19.
In response to the opioid epidemic, a multitude of policy and clinical-guideline based interventions were launched to combat physician overprescribing. However, the sudden rise of the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted all aspects of healthcare delivery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how opioid prescribing patterns changed during the Covid-19 pandemic within a large multispecialty orthopedic practice. ⋯ During the Covid-19 pandemic opioid prescribing levels remained below historical averages. While continued efforts are needed to minimize opioid overprescribing, it appears that the significant progress made toward this goal was not lost during the pandemic era.
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The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in greater use of remote patient monitoring (RPM). However, the use of RPM has been modest compared to other forms of telehealth. ⋯ To encourage ongoing growth of RPM, it will be necessary to address implementation barriers through changes in payment policy, training and education in digital and health literacy, improvements in staff roles and workflows, and new strategies to ensure equitable access.