uncertainty surrounding COVID-19.
Indeed, that's the situation Mohammad A.
Al-Haddad, MD, is facing. "We're still seeing a
significant number of last-minute cancella-
tions which occur within three days of the
procedure," says Dr. Al-Haddad, a gastroen-
terologist with Indiana University Health in
Indianapolis.
He points out patients might become anx-
ious about entering a healthcare facility,
change their minds or view the screening as
a test that can wait another year.
There's another major reason for the can-
cellations. "One of our biggest issues has
been the pre-screening COVID test," says Dr.
Al-Haddad.
"We now ask every patient to get tested.
Unfortunately, some patients cannot get test-
ed or refuse to get tested, and they fall off the
schedule."
Like many facilities, IU Health's outpatient
endoscopy centers saw a 75% reduction in
volume between the end of March and the
beginning of May, when physicians were per-
forming only emergent and urgent-access
colonoscopies. In late June, its colonoscopy
volume was back up to three-fourths of its
pre-COVID-19 levels, at least in part because
of the facility's patient outreach efforts. When
staff repeatedly heard from patients who did-
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