Life is moving fast for independent primary care practices. While still struggling during #COVID19, thankfully, there is new support and signs of adaptation. Here’s what we’re seeing at @ElationHealth for 14,000 #PCP and #DPC clinicians and their 7M patients.

The good news: Grateful that 3 relief plans will help our practices stay afloat & caring for patients. 1) policy change for video & phone visits 2) @CMSgov advancing 3 months of Medicare payments 3) SBA loans to help medical practices cover payroll & rent. https://twitter.com/rshawnm/status/1244754458590011392

This is a step in the right direction, but independent practices are still struggling significantly. The increased reimbursement for phone visits we want to see hasn’t happened yet. Terrific reporting by @chrissyfarr on the practice emergency last week: https://twitter.com/chrissyfarr/status/1245053375504400385

Last week we saw another 5% WoW increase in cancellations, to add on top of the 48% increase experienced last week. Overall we're seeing almost 40% of appointments being canceled.

Some patient encounters are shifting to phone and video calls, but overall, independent primary care practices are facing another week of a 30% decrease in their total patient volume.

Patient phone calls are still far above normal, but starting to decrease from the high two weeks ago. One practice says “It’s very difficult to keep up with all the phone calls while seeing many patients ‘curbside’ outside of the office in their own cars when they are ill.”

Not what we expected: The biggest increase in phone calls to primary care practices is coming from patients in the 40-69 year old demographic. A 35% spike in calls from those patients just last week.

Our hunch is that the decrease in phone call visits is because practices so quickly adopted telemedicine to get a more normal reimbursement. 41% of our practices had never used telehealth before #COVID19 and we’re doing a ton of support for the transition.

A worrisome trend we’re watching is patients over 70 years old receiving a lot less #primarycare in any format. We’ve seen a more than 50% decrease in interactions with these older patients compared to normal.

Mixed reports from the front lines: “We can do many things remotely so staffing isn’t an issue. Our employees are safe with us!”, “Only a few N95 masks left”, “We are down to a skeleton staff right now. We never have enough help to begin with so it’s very difficult.” #GetMePPE

Thankful for the voices of @rshawnm @Farzad_MD @aafp who are continuing to raise the alarm and advocate for our docs on the front lines. Stories like this in the LA Times helped a lot to alert people to the dangers practices are facing: https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-03-24/coronavirus-outbreak-primary-care-doctors

What else would you like to know about what’s happening with independent primary care in the US? We’re happy to share the latest about this crucial segment of our healthcare system. /End