The COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow and present new challenges for health care professionals. In order to better understand physicians’ views on the coronavirus, Ruth L. Newhouse Associate Professor of Health Care Policy Anupam B. Jena, MD, PhD and adjunct assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health and RAND policy researcher Chris Whaley, PhD partnered with Doximity to survey 2,615 registered physicians across the United States.
In an overwhelming response, 73.3% of the physicians surveyed said that they were not currently able to quickly and easily test their patients for COVID-19. Almost half expressed that they were worried that patients would avoid testing or treatment because of health insurance or financial barriers.
Concerns over adequate medical supplies and equipment were high, with 77.5% of physicians claiming that they did not believe that their hospital or clinic would be prepared if the COVID-19 pandemic worsened. The majority stated that the government had not taken appropriate measures to ensure that their hospital or clinic was equipped to address the pandemic. 70% said that the government’s response to COVID-19 not only did not adequately address the issue, but in fact created significant challenges.
The physicians supported shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders as the best way to “flatten the curve”, and many have started seeing patients virtually instead of in clinic.