Why the Post-COVID Era Will Make Outpatient Joint Replacement Mandatory

Exploring the protocols that allowed Indiana University Health to handle 60% of the state's COVID-19 patients without exhausting ICU beds or ventilators.

The COVID pandemic of 2020 has emerged as a global threat to patients, health care providers, and the global economy. Owing to this particular novel and highly infectious strain of coronavirus, the rapid community spread and clinical severity of the subsequent respiratory syndrome created a substantial strain on hospitals and health care systems around the world. The rapid surge of patients presenting over a small period for emergent clinical care, admission to the hospital, and intensive care units, with many requiring mechanically assisted ventilators for respiratory support, demonstrated the potential to overwhelm health care workers, hospitals, and health care systems.

Indiana University (IU) Health is the largest health system in the state of Indiana, with 2708 total beds and over 118,000 hospital admissions annually, and is partnered with the nation’s largest medical school, Indiana University School of Medicine. Through close cooperation with our state government and examination of available epidemiological models, IU Health determined that a surge of patients affected by the novel coronavirus would encounter our health system in late March and within an anticipated peak in mid to late April. Our program made the decision to stop all elective, nonurgent hip and knee arthroplasty surgery on March 17, 2020, and based on evolving data that became clear, the ambulatory aspect of patient care also ceased immediately.