Influential body tells hospitals: Stop mass testing for Covid, it’s a waste of doctor’s money and time

An influential panel of infectious disease experts has recommended that hospitals stop testing all new admissions for Covid, which they say is extremely expensive for patients and carers.

Revised guidelines from the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America have ended early pandemic guidelines – which urged hospitals to carefully watch who walks through their doors with Covid.

However, such guidelines are of little to no benefit when followed by other mitigation measures such as masks and proper ventilation, increasing the cost pressure on healthcare systems.

The panel cited studies showing that screening before admission can actually affect a patient’s ability to get the care they need and does little to prevent transmission.

This change comes amid hopes that America’s “triplemic” flu, Covid and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are finally on the wane.

These experts also noted that a hospital policy of universal Covid testing is causing a ripple effect of emergency room delays in patients.

A test before treatment leads to longer waiting times in hospital.

Facilities dealing with an influx of flu, RSV and Covid patients cannot afford to have an emergency room overcrowded with people who do not have access to specialized care.

The panel wrote: “The use of asymptomatic screening is a unique but resource-intensive tool that is likely overused.

The new guideline was published in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

“While preventing the health-associated spread of respiratory pathogens is essential, we must critically evaluate interventions that, when added to the core layers of infection prevention, may not have their intended effects and may have unintended consequences for patients and healthcare professionals.”

The new guidelines will undoubtedly be controversial as they promote the elimination of an early leg of virus mitigation.

A large number of hospitals in the US are testing new admissions and patients waiting in line for surgery to reduce the risk of complications.

But with the advent of highly effective vaccines and antiviral treatments, hospital admissions for Covid have fallen dramatically compared to levels less than two years ago.

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“With increased population immunity to SARS-CoV-2, milder clinical outcomes, greater access to effective vaccines and therapies, and more published experience with asymptomatic screening, it is important to determine the impact of this intervention and how it will be applied in ‘ n Infections must promote prevention programs,” the group wrote.

Pre-admission Covid screening is causing annoying delays in delivering the medical care sick patients need, a study shows

A May 2022 study by the Cook County Department of Emergency Medicine in Illinois reported that routine asymptomatic Covid testing increased patients’ time in the emergency department waiting room by an average of about seven hours.

Politics is also expensive. Each test costs about $54 to administer. Testing every patient who walks through the hospital doors is a prohibitively expensive undertaking.

Cook County researchers cited an encouraging study published by Spanish scientists that said screening just a quarter of new patients had no adverse effect on virus transmission.

DR. Thomas Talbot, an epidemiologist at Vanderbilt University and a member of SHEA’s board of directors, said: “The small benefits that may result from asymptomatic testing at this stage of the pandemic are offset by potential harms from delays in procedures, delays in patient transfers and labor capacity and staff pressure.”

However, the board did not recommend a universal end to pre-admission screening and said patients at higher risk of developing severe Covid, such as organ transplant and cancer patients, should continue to be tested.