Hospitals in the West are still inching toward returning to 2019 patient volume levels, according to a new survey of 100 hospitals from management consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
For the survey, McKinsey surveyed strategic and operational leaders from 100 hospitals with more than 200 beds in the U.S. The responses came from all regions of the U.S. and represent about 10 percent of the hospital beds in the U.S.
Five key findings from the survey:
1. Across all respondents, volume for inpatient, outpatient, procedural and emergency care has returned to 2019 levels. Respondents expect inpatient volumes to reach about 6 percent higher than 2019 by 2022.
2. There are regional differences between patient volume returns. For example, hospitals in the West reported patient volume below 2019 levels in inpatient, procedural and emergency care. In comparison, hospitals in the Midwest have seen the fastest recovery of volume compared to 2019.
3. Providers expect patient demand for care to outpace provider capacity in several specialties. In particular, 35 percent of hospitals said that they expect demand to outpace provider capacity in psychology, 33 percent of hospitals expect it to occur in orthopedic surgery and 26 percent expect it to occur in cardiology.
4. On average U.S. hospitals shifted about 20 percent of their outpatient visits to virtual care in 2020, but this has declined to 13 percent as of July 2021.
5. As of July 2021, hospitals said system capacity is most limited for inpatient care (30 percent), followed by emergency department care (18 percent).
Access the full survey here.