Prioritizing elective cardiovascular procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic: The cardiovascular medically necessary,

Sergio Waxman1, Aakash Garg1, Sabino Torre2

  • 1Division of Cardiology, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Newark, New Jersey, USA.

Insights

A new scoring system, the cardiovascular medically necessary, time-sensitive (MeNTS) score, effectively triaged elective procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. This tool helped prioritize cases when resources were limited, ensuring fair allocation.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Surgery
  • Health Policy
  • Infectious Disease Epidemiology

Background:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated prioritization strategies for elective cardiovascular procedures due to resource constraints and transmission risks.
  • Government regulations and professional society recommendations guided the resumption of non-urgent surgical and cardiovascular care.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate a scoring system for the standardized triage of elective cardiovascular procedures.
  • To assess the utility of a novel scoring system in managing procedure prioritization during a public health crisis.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective review of 109 elective cardiovascular procedures deferred or performed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Application of the cardiovascular medically necessary, time-sensitive (MeNTS) procedure scorecard to stratify cases based on resource use, COVID-19 risk, and time sensitivity.

Main Results:

  • Performed cases had significantly lower median and mean CV MeNTS scores compared to deferred cases (26 vs. 33, p < .001).
  • The CV MeNTS score effectively differentiated between performed and deferred elective cardiovascular procedures.

Conclusions:

  • The CV MeNTS procedure score demonstrated efficacy in stratifying elective cases for triage.
  • The CV MeNTS scorecard may serve as a valuable tool for equitable prioritization of cardiovascular procedures during periods of limited capacity.
Abstract

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