Procedure Volumes Are Rebounding Faster than Expected —but Still Far from Normal

From a revenue perspective, the biggest hit on the medical device industry during the height of the global coronavirus pandemic was the fact that most non-emergency procedures were deferred. This was necessary both as a safety precaution for patients and to conserve hospital resources for COVID-19 patients. The good news, however, is that analysts are seeing positive signs of procedure volume recovery, particularly in orthopedics, which was by far the hardest hit sector. In a recent survey of 51 orthopedic practices, Canaccord Genuity analyst Kyle Rose measured the rates of patient volumes since the outbreak of the pandemic and the derivative impacts on orthopedic device makers. "The most obvious and important takeaway from our May survey is that the overwhelming majority of physicians have resumed face-to-face visits as well as elective procedures," Rose said. In fact, 86% of the firm's respondents said they are seeing patients in person, up from just 26% and 28% in the analyst's March and April surveys. "We view this as a positive leading indicator given the importance of face-to-face consults when evaluating significant decisions like undergoing surgery," Rose said. "Similarly, 58% stated they were performing elective surgeries, up from 2% and 0% in March and April." On the flip side, however, Rose also reported that the surveyed physicians continue to expect below-normal procedure volumes at least thr...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: COVID-19 Orthopedics Source Type: news