Factors Influenced the Endoscopic Services Volume during the COVID-19 Pandemic at National Tertiary Referral Hospital in Indonesia: Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital

Abstract

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a decrease in healthcare services, the intervention of non-surgical procedures, and endoscopy. This study examined the volume of endoscopy at Dr. Cipto Mangukusumo Hospital, the highest referral hospital in Indonesia. A cross-sectional mixed method was used to assess the relationship between endoscopy volume, age, gender, number of COVID-19 cases, type of patient’s case, the origin of treatment, and the kind of endoscopic procedure before and during the pandemic. The secondary data were collected through the hospital’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) System and “Kawal COVID-19” Websites, while the primary data were collected through observation, document reviews, and in-depth online interviews with doctors at endoscopic units. This study period was divided into six intervals of three months, respectively, from January 2020 to September 2021, and 5030 endoscopic procedures were collected. The data were analyzed both quantitatively through the SPSS statistics and qualitatively. The quantitative data presented as descriptive and bivariate results in an Independent T-Test and a Chi-Square test. The results showed there was a significant difference (p = 0.004) in the volume of endoscopes before (the highest volume) and during the pandemic (the lowest volume during April–June 2020 period). The mean age of the patients was higher before the pandemic. There was a significant difference between patient admissions from outpatient and emergency procedures before and during the pandemic. There are changes in the flow of outpatient to do endoscopies which were different from the flow of emergency patients during the pandemic, which focused on the long waiting list for inward entry queues, the mandatory COVID-19 PCR swab, and the criteria of emergency cases for fast-track procedures, the reduced bed capacity, and the expired date of laboratory examinations. The decreased volume was also caused by the limitation of patient intervention by the doctors. However, the duration of the action procedure was accelerated without reducing its quality. Furthermore, there was a high wave of Delta Variant cases from May to July 2021. In addition, the factors of age, type of patient’s case, origin, and treatment showed significant differences before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, changes in the flow of services also influenced various impacts on endoscopy and service costs. Therefore, further study is required to calculate the unit costs.