https://mailchi.mp/0d4b1a52108c/the-weekly-gist-april-24-2020?e=d1e747d2d8

It’s entirely understandable that consumers would be reticent to visit in-person care settings right now. Given that doctors’ offices and urgent care facilities are where sick people congregate, a patient might well assume their chances of contracting COVID-19 would be higher there than in almost any other public space. But a story we heard this week from a health system chief strategy officer (CSO) reveals just how frightened patients may be to return.

Last week the system began to reach out to patients who had positive screening mammograms in February, before elective procedures and tests were cancelled, and who now needed to return for more detailed diagnostic images. A full 75 percent of these patients were unwilling to schedule a diagnostic mammogram within the next month, with one patient even saying, “I’ll take my chances with breast cancer over COVID!”.

Women with a concerning mammogram finding are typically among the most motivated patients in seeking follow-up care. If a majority of them are unwilling to pursue in-person follow-up, the same will likely be true of scores of patients with other possible cancers, heart disease, and other serious conditions. As fear delays needed care, patients are likely to end up much sicker, with more advanced disease, when they do return. With rigorous attention to symptom and temperature screening, visiting a doctor’s office should be less risky than going to the grocery store—but providers will have to publicly communicate the steps they are taking to keep patients safe before many will be willing to come in the door.