Table 2 Clinicians’ Experiences with Foot Care Delivery During COVID-19 Pandemic

Experienced Impact of Pandemic on Provision of Care

 Decreased patient volume

189 (68.0)

 Increased operating costs

163 (58.6)

 Reduced access to podiatric equipment and supplies

150 (54.0)

 Increased wait times for patients

147 (52.9)

 Lacked PPE

114 (41.0)

 Increased wait times for specialist referrals

101 (36.3)

 Increased need for patient triage

101 (36.3)

 Reduced access to diagnostic tests

80 (28.8)

 Reduced staffing

80 (28.8)

 Increased fees for patients

67 (24.1)

Perceived Barriers to Providing Care

 Patients’ anxiety/reluctance to return to care

172 (61.9)

 Scheduling

110 (39.6)

 Operating costs

92 (33.1)

 Time to provide care

92 (33.1)

 Patient screening

58 (20.9)

 Staffing

52 (18.7)

 Clinicians’ anxiety to provide care

33 (11.9)

 Infection control practices

32 (11.5)

 Limited PPE

16 (5.8)

Experienced Difficulty Accessing Personal Protective Equipment

 Disposable surgical or procedure masks

55 (19.8)

 Disposable gloves

53 (19.1)

 N95 masks

49 (17.6)

 Gel hand sanitizer

36 (12.9)

 Disposable gowns

33 (11.9)

 Facial protective shields

31 (11.2)

Instituted Precautionary Measures

 Prescreened patients

215 (77.3)

 Increased sanitizing practices in clinic

210 (75.5)

 Provided PPE for clinicians/staff

204 (73.4)

 Rescheduled patients

190 (68.3)

 Increased wait times between patients

180 (64.7)

 Installed physical structures (e.g. glass barrier, air filtration)

172 (61.9)

 Updated infection control policies/procedures

170 (61.2)

 Requested patient wait outside clinic/treatment area (not in waiting room)

166 (59.7)

 Provided PPE for patients

152 (54.7)

 Introduced contact-tracing protocol

134 (48.2)

 Patients completed COVID-19 consent and/or waiver forms

114 (41.0)

 Took patients’ temperatures prior to clinic entry

104 (37.4)