In light of the COVID-19 pandemic hospitals are facing catastrophic financial challenges. The American Hospital Association estimates a four-month impact of $202.6 billion in losses for hospitals and health systems – That’s an average of $50.7 billion per month.

With these mounting losses some systems ands organizations have jumped on board with a media campaign suggesting that we ‘stop medical distancing.’ It’s gentle media-driven nudge to remind us to come to the doctor. It addresses the visceral fear of being in a place that the public perceives as at risk. Beyond hospitals the American Heart Association has made their own edgy suggestion that we don’t die of doubt.

But beyond fear is the reality that as more patients turn COVID positive the numbers of those who buy in to the ‘stop medical distancing’ campaign may not be allowed on-site for their procedure or visit. As hospitals create ‘safe havens’ through aggressive screening, the numbers of patients eligible for elective care can be expected to erode substantially in hot/warm COVID spots over the near term. The creeping problem is the reality of containing infection within hospitals.

Na­tion­wide, hos­pi­tals have iden­ti­fied 5,142 coro­n­avirus in­fec­tions ap­par­ently ac­quired in­side hos­pi­tals from May 14 to June 21, ac­cord­ing to fig­ures pro­vided to The Wall Street Jour­nal by the Cen­ters for Dis­ease Con­trol and Pre­ven­tion. The fig­ure could be higher; the re­port­ing is vol­un­tary.

Success will involve a novel balance between selling the ‘safe haven’ with service delivery to the afflicted through COVID-designated clinics.

Stop medical distancing recommends that you stay six feet from one another except for your doctor. FWIW, there’s no mention of staying home and close to your computer monitor.

As hospitals squander this opportunity to create novel channels of health delivery through remote care, the stop medical distancing is the closest thing you’ll see to an anti-telemedicine campaign.