Prioritising Surgical Cases Deferred by the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Ethics-inspired Algorithmic Framework for Health Leaders

Journal Article

Amit Jain, Tinglong Dai, Christopher G. Myers, Punya Jain, Shruti Aggarwal
BMJ Leader, vol. 5(2), 2021 Jun, pp. 124-126

DOI: 10.1136/leader-2020-000343

View PDF Article

Cite

APA Click to copy
Jain, A., Dai, T., Myers, C. G., Jain, P., & Aggarwal, S. (2021). Prioritising Surgical Cases Deferred by the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Ethics-inspired Algorithmic Framework for Health Leaders. BMJ Leader, 5(2), 124–126. https://doi.org/10.1136/leader-2020-000343

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Jain, Amit, Tinglong Dai, Christopher G. Myers, Punya Jain, and Shruti Aggarwal. “Prioritising Surgical Cases Deferred by the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Ethics-Inspired Algorithmic Framework for Health Leaders.” BMJ Leader 5, no. 2 (June 2021): 124–126.

MLA Click to copy
Jain, Amit, et al. “Prioritising Surgical Cases Deferred by the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Ethics-Inspired Algorithmic Framework for Health Leaders.” BMJ Leader, vol. 5, no. 2, June 2021, pp. 124–26, doi:10.1136/leader-2020-000343.

BibTeX Click to copy

@article{amit2021a,
  title = {Prioritising Surgical Cases Deferred by the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Ethics-inspired Algorithmic Framework for Health Leaders},
  year = {2021},
  month = jun,
  issue = {2},
  journal = {BMJ Leader},
  pages = {124-126},
  volume = {5},
  doi = {10.1136/leader-2020-000343},
  author = {Jain, Amit and Dai, Tinglong and Myers, Christopher G. and Jain, Punya and Aggarwal, Shruti},
  month_numeric = {6}
}

Elective surgical suspension during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a sizeable surgical case backlog throughout the world. As we ramp back up, how do we decide which cases take priority? Potential future waves (or a future pandemic) may lead to additional surgical shutdown and subsequent reopening. Deciding which cases to prioritise in the face of limited health system capacity has emerged as a new challenge for healthcare leaders. Here we present an ethically grounded and operationally efficient surgical prioritisation framework for healthcare leaders and practitioners, drawing insights from decision analysis and organisational sciences.