U.S. Physicians Surveyed on COVID-19 Pandemic, Front-Line Challenges

A new survey of more than 2,600 U.S. physicians reveals key findings around inadequate COVID-19  testing, a lack of necessary medical supplies, and not enough precautions in place to protect healthcare workers.

The survey was conducted between March 21-24 by Doximity, a professional medical network with more than 70 million U.S. physicians connected, with help from Harvard Medical School and RAND Corporation researchers.  

The study found that most U.S. physicians (73 percent) reported not being able to test patients quickly and easily for Coronavirus, despite 50 percent reporting that they had treated at least one patient with possible COVID-19 symptoms. Interestingly, though, about half of the respondents have not yet treated a single patient with possible symptoms.

What’s more, the surveyed doctors reported that medical supplies have been inadequate, with 77 percent noting that they did not believe their hospital or clinic had adequate medical supplies or equipment to manage the crisis.

These survey results likely won’t be seen as surprising since stories of testing and supply shortages continue to emerge every day. Nonetheless, it affirms what the public was already hearing—that clinicians on the front lines do not feel they are well-equipped enough to treat COVID-19 patients.

What’s more, 60 percent of survey respondents believe there are not enough precautions in place in the clinical setting while treating suspected COVID-19 patients. The lack of protection for healthcare workers is already a pressing issue and could worsen as projection models predict the peak of the COVID-19 patient surge hasn’t even hit yet in most states.

Other key survey findings include:

• The majority of physicians (70 percent) did not think that government had taken appropriate measures to support the medical supply chain or had adequately responded to the pandemic.

• 48 percent of doctors reported they were not concerned that patients are avoiding testing or treatment due to financial barriers, while 40 percent did express concern in this area.

• While social distancing is inconvenient and has large economic impacts, most – but not all – physicians agree that it is absolutely necessary to successfully fight this pandemic, with 59 percent reporting that current social distancing measures are appropriate, while 28 percent reported current measures are likely an underreaction. About 12 percent said the social distancing measures were an overreaction.

• As far as the specific policy actions that physicians believe will ultimately “flatten” the pandemic’s curve, shelter-in-place or stay-home orders ranked highest, garnering 60 percent of responses. Free COVID-19 drive-thru and mail order testing came in second, with 25 percent.

• Over 80 percent of physicians have moved to, or are planning to adopt, telemedicine virtual visits with patients. Telemedicine can be beneficial in treating patients remotely, saving in-person visits for high-priority coronavirus patients.

"As an emergency medicine physician, I see first-hand how these challenges are impacting day-to-day operations in the ER.  I practice in Chicago, and we’ve already begun to see patients in severe distress due to this pandemic. The bottom line is that the issues flagged in this study, both at the clinical and system level, need to be addressed quickly for us to get and stay ahead of this," explained Amit Phull, M.D., board-certified emergency medicine physician and vice president of strategy and insights at Doximity.