Рост неявок на прием у педиатрических дерматологов в Миннесоте на фоне операций ИЦН

Pediatric dermatology cancellations, no-shows increased during ICE activity in Minnesota Key takeaways: - Increases in late cancellations and no-shows during Operation Surge were concentrated to metropolitan pediatric dermatology clinics. - Rates remained similar at adult and suburban pediatric dermatology sites. Late cancellation and no-show visit rates increased in Minnesota pediatric dermatology clinics during U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s operation in Minneapolis, according to a research brief published in Pediatric Dermatology. Compared with December 2024 and January 2025, the occurrence of late cancellation and no-show visits increased by 5.82% (P < .001) during December 2025 and January 2026 in metropolitan pediatric dermatology clinical sites in Minnesota, according to the study. A 1.2% increase in late cancellation and no-show visits was also observed in pediatric suburban dermatology clinics; however, this finding was not statistically significant. The study did not determine why appointment attendance changed, and the researchers noted that their data were limited by a lack of information on confounding variables such as seasonal weather variation, insurance coverage, transportation barriers and seasonal respiratory illness. “It’s hard to know exactly what is driving the higher no-show and cancellation rates within pediatric dermatology during this time,” Alyce Anderson, MD, PhD, FAAD, assistant professor of dermatology and dermatopathology at the University of Minnesota, told Healio. “It is likely a complicated mix of factors. However, we hypothesize that many families were staying close to home during a time of city unrest, placing family safety and unity as a priority over a physician office visit.” The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti during Operation Surge caused tensions to increase in Minnesota, the researchers wrote. Clinically, dermatologists observed increases in dermatology no-show rates during this time and decided to evaluate their occurrences at three University of Minnesota pediatric dermatology clinical sites and eight university adult dermatology clinics. These sites were stratified by suburban and metropolitan locations. “We originally designed the project to look at adult dermatology cancellations because our clinical observations suggested that our patients were canceling appointments and modifying appointments to teledermatology,” Anderson said. “We were surprised and disheartened to see that the greatest impact was occurring in our pediatric clinics. The reasons for this were not explored in this study but remain an area of interest for future investigation.” The findings showed that late cancellation and no-show visit rates among adult dermatology clinics remained similar across the years in both metropolitan and suburban settings. Based on the finding that late cancellation and no-show visit rates were higher among metropolitan vs. suburban pediatric dermatology clinics, the researchers suggested that increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity may have been one factor affecting attendance. “Our pediatric patients often require family to join and bring them to the clinic, taking more family coordination and complexity to attend an appointment,” Anderson said. “Adults are able to act more autonomously.” In response to the uptick of late cancellation and no-shows in pediatric dermatology clinics, dermatologists increased their telehealth appointment offerings by 225% in January 2026, amounting to 26 virtual visits — up from eight in January 2025, the researchers reported. The dermatologists also increased their clinical availability at satellite and suburban locations, both of which experienced fewer cancellations and no-shows. “As a specialty, we feel fortunate that a unique portion of our care can transition to telemedicine,” Anderson said. “We worked hard to offer virtual visits to our patients during this time.” The researchers encouraged dermatologists to advocate for patient’s health during times of social and political unrest. “In medicine, we have a responsibility to care for all of our patients,” Anderson told Healio. “Historically, medical facilities and hospitals served as safe spaces for our patients. These data challenge that assumption. We know from our experience in the pandemic that lost points of contact between patients and physicians can have downstream health implications.” For more information: Alyce Anderson, MD, PhD, FAAD, can be reached at [email protected].