The 2020-21 flu season was hard to detect. The usual transmission dynamics were not operational. Kids were out of school, families and friends avoided gatherings and large scale events were cancelled. There was, of course, a flu season, just a little one. This year, most of the normal transmission dynamics should be up and running which raises an important and large scale challenge.
Before COVID, it was not as important for a health care provider to know which respiratory infection a patient may have when presenting at the physician. In the post-COVID world, a clinician will want to distinguish between a run-of-the-mill respiratory infection and COVID. We expect all the telehealth flexibilities in use since the start of COVID to be deployed for virtual triage. In conjunction with a virtual visit, rapid at-home testing offers a way to screen for COVID before taking the next step like physician administered anti-virals or a hospital admission.
The same applies to hospitals, although we must recognize the add-on payments for COVID patients may cloud the picture - not to be too cynical or anything.
The CDC is helpfully tracking influenza and COVID admissions so we can watch things unfold.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Emily Evans
Managing Director – Health Policy
Twitter
LinkedIn
