Elective Surgery Resumption

We wanted to help out by providing you with a few resources to help determine which areas have already opened to resume elective surgery. How amazing it would be if we could simply provide you with a yes-or-no chart of which states had resumed and which not, but of course reality is much more complicated than that!

While most states have generally reopened for elective surgery in some capacity, most carry additional guidelines on a state-by-state business, which can range from limitations on usable PPE to limited volume. It's important to remember, too, that within states elective surgery resumption can vary by county. For example, certain counties may already have entered Phase 2 or Phase 3 reopening (as defined by that state) while more urban counties may still be waiting to enter Phase 1. 

The below map (sourced from AAO.org) shows some of the nuance of elective surgery resumption at the state level, and we'll offer a bit of guidance on how to interpret it. ​

While the above map boasts no lack of color, it's not as difficult to interpret as the legend seems. Nearly every state falls into four specific categories: 

1. Elective Surgeries have resumed, but with guidelines specific to that state (purple)
2. Elective Surgeries have resumed, but with limits on volume (gray) 
3. The state has not yet published guidelines for providers looking to resume elective surgeries (red)
4. Elective Surgeries have resumed, but with limits on sourcing of PPE equipment and other limitations, such as requiring physicians or patients to be screened for Covid-19 (orange yellow green blue turquoise lilac)

We also include links at the end to more in-depth tables outlining by state the specific guidance related to elective surgery as well as when said guidelines were implemented and are set to expire. ​

More Detailed Resources 

• The above map comes from the American Academy of Opthalmology, with additional details for each state available here.
• The American College of Surgeons has created a tabular list by state with excerpts from the specific guidelines published for each state as well as when said guidelines were implemented and when they will expire. The following is the example for Arkansas (AR):