COVID-19: preparing for second surge and getting back on track for radiology

Abstract

In this opinion piece derived from a webinar organized by the Radiological Society of North America and conducted in the spring of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders from three large North American and Asian academic radiology programs review the strategies employed at their respective institutions to address the impact of the pandemic on their departments. In the first segment, the author describes the approach taken in the radiology department at an 1800-bed Asian hospital system which focuses on the creation of capacity to accommodate over 5000 COVID-19 patients in early 2020, the sustaining of services during the surge, and the development of adaptive mechanisms to address future surges and pandemics. In the second segment, a large southwestern medical system addresses the creation of a long-term strategy to provide imaging services safely for staff and patients while simultaneously utilizing technology to maintain interprofessional connections. The final segment describes how a large multifacility health-care enterprise in the Pacific Northwest of the United States is developing strategies to successfully reemerge from the forced reduction in imaging services experienced during the COVID-19 surge in early 2020.