CORR® International—Asia-Pacific: Crisis Management in the Time of COVID-19

Abstract

The Asia-Pacific region is home to 60% of the world’s population, and includes some of the most densely populated countries in the world. But the region reported just 27% of the world’s reported COVID-19 cases. With the exception of India, most of the countries in this region have fared better than the Americas and European countries in terms of number of patients with COVID-19 and death rate per 100,000 people [2, 17]. But there are nowinners here and let’s not mince words: Despite better statistical figures, orthopaedic practices in the Asia-Pacific region were greatly impacted by the pandemic [1, 5]. The Asia-Pacific region presents a unique set of challenges regarding combatting COVID-19: limited awareness of safety precautions against the spread of COVID-19, limited access to care and proper personal protective equipment (PPE), and poor healthcare infrastructure [8]. Indeed, sustaining an orthopaedic practice during the pandemic, like most businesses around the world, can feel like a daily struggle. How did orthopaedic surgeons in this region stay afloat during the pandemic? What strategies can we take from and apply to our preparations for a potential second wave of COVID-19 in the region or for future [13] global health crises? Owing to densely populated cities and overall poor healthcare infrastructure in developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region, regional governments relied on strict stay-at-home orders to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection. The stay-athome orders meant only emergency medical services were functional in these countries to redirect the already strained healthcare resources to COVID-19 patient care [10]. For orthopaedic surgeons in the Asia-Pacific region, like in the United States, this meant an overhaul of our day-to-day activities, including a substantial reduction in or complete shutdown of routine clinic visits and nonemergency surgical procedures, as well as learning (many of us on-the-fly) how to use telecommunication to meet with patients. The resumption of routine outpatient services and elective surgeries was slow and still has not reached the full pre-pandemic level. So how did the more successful ones pull it off? Before I discuss that, I would like to recognize that although I’ll be discussing practice-management issues here, it’s important not to lose sight of the human face of this pandemic. Many of us have lost family members, professional colleagues, and close friends to COVID-19. It’s been a wrenching year, and it may be a couple of years before it’s all over. I hope that the fact that I’m writing about business in no way deemphasizes the human costs— and the individual pain that so many have felt—that have been so central to the last year or more of our lives. Still, because providing musculoskeletal care is itself a compassionate gesture, I believe it’s reasonable—even in this moment—to talk about what it will take to help those who provide it stay afloat. With that in mind, I believe the key strategies for financially surviving the pandemic—which may help others in a second wave of COVID-19 or another such crisis—involves preparation, modification, and execution. The author certifies that he (TKK) or a member of his immediate family, has received or may receive payments or benefits, during the study period, an amount of less than USD 10,000 from Smith & Nephew. All ICMJE Conflict of Interest Forms for authors and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research editors and board members are on file with the publication and can be viewed on request. The opinions expressed are those of the writers, and do not reflect the opinion or policy of CORR or The Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons. T. K. Kim ✉, TK Orthopedic Surgery, 55 Dongpankyo-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Republic of Korea, Email: osktk2000@ yahoo.com T. K. Kim, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, TK Orthopedic Surgery, Seongnam, Korea