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A Cost-Minimization Analysis of a Medical Record-based, Store and Forward and Provider-to-provider Telemedicine Compared to Usual Care in Catalonia: More Agile and Efficient, Especially for Users

Background: Telemedicine (interconsultation between primary and hospital care teams) has been operating in the counties of Central Catalonia Bages, Moianès and Berguedà since 2011, specializing in teledermatology, teleulcers, teleophthalmology and teleaudiometries. For the period until the end of 20...

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Autores principales: López Seguí, Francesc, Franch Parella, Jordi, Gironès García, Xavier, Mendioroz Peña, Jacobo, García Cuyàs, Francesc, Adroher Mas, Cristina, García-Altés, Anna, Vidal-Alaball, Josep
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7143363/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32197434
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062008
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author López Seguí, Francesc
Franch Parella, Jordi
Gironès García, Xavier
Mendioroz Peña, Jacobo
García Cuyàs, Francesc
Adroher Mas, Cristina
García-Altés, Anna
Vidal-Alaball, Josep
author_facet López Seguí, Francesc
Franch Parella, Jordi
Gironès García, Xavier
Mendioroz Peña, Jacobo
García Cuyàs, Francesc
Adroher Mas, Cristina
García-Altés, Anna
Vidal-Alaball, Josep
author_sort López Seguí, Francesc
collection PubMed
description Background: Telemedicine (interconsultation between primary and hospital care teams) has been operating in the counties of Central Catalonia Bages, Moianès and Berguedà since 2011, specializing in teledermatology, teleulcers, teleophthalmology and teleaudiometries. For the period until the end of 2019, a total of 52,198 visits were recorded. Objective: To analyze the differential costs between telemedicine and usual care in a semi-urban environment. Methodology: A cost-minimization evaluation, including direct and indirect costs from a societal perspective, distinguishing healthcare and user’s costs, was carried out over a three-month period. Results: Telemedicine saved € 780,397 over the period analyzed. A differential cost favorable to telemedicine of about € 15 per visit was observed, with the patient being the largest beneficiary of this saving (by 85%) in terms of shorter waiting times and travel costs. From the healthcare system perspective, moving the time spent in a hospital care consultation to primary care is efficient in terms of the total time devoted per patient. In social terms and in this context, telemedicine is more efficient than usual care. Conclusion: Allowing users to save time in terms of consultation and travel is the main driver of interconsultation between primary and hospital care savings in a semi-urban context. The telemedicine service is also economically favorable for the healthcare system, enabling it to provide a more agile service, which also benefits healthcare professionals.
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spelling pubmed-71433632020-04-14 A Cost-Minimization Analysis of a Medical Record-based, Store and Forward and Provider-to-provider Telemedicine Compared to Usual Care in Catalonia: More Agile and Efficient, Especially for Users López Seguí, Francesc Franch Parella, Jordi Gironès García, Xavier Mendioroz Peña, Jacobo García Cuyàs, Francesc Adroher Mas, Cristina García-Altés, Anna Vidal-Alaball, Josep Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Background: Telemedicine (interconsultation between primary and hospital care teams) has been operating in the counties of Central Catalonia Bages, Moianès and Berguedà since 2011, specializing in teledermatology, teleulcers, teleophthalmology and teleaudiometries. For the period until the end of 2019, a total of 52,198 visits were recorded. Objective: To analyze the differential costs between telemedicine and usual care in a semi-urban environment. Methodology: A cost-minimization evaluation, including direct and indirect costs from a societal perspective, distinguishing healthcare and user’s costs, was carried out over a three-month period. Results: Telemedicine saved € 780,397 over the period analyzed. A differential cost favorable to telemedicine of about € 15 per visit was observed, with the patient being the largest beneficiary of this saving (by 85%) in terms of shorter waiting times and travel costs. From the healthcare system perspective, moving the time spent in a hospital care consultation to primary care is efficient in terms of the total time devoted per patient. In social terms and in this context, telemedicine is more efficient than usual care. Conclusion: Allowing users to save time in terms of consultation and travel is the main driver of interconsultation between primary and hospital care savings in a semi-urban context. The telemedicine service is also economically favorable for the healthcare system, enabling it to provide a more agile service, which also benefits healthcare professionals. MDPI 2020-03-18 2020-03 /pmc/articles/PMC7143363/ /pubmed/32197434 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062008 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
López Seguí, Francesc
Franch Parella, Jordi
Gironès García, Xavier
Mendioroz Peña, Jacobo
García Cuyàs, Francesc
Adroher Mas, Cristina
García-Altés, Anna
Vidal-Alaball, Josep
A Cost-Minimization Analysis of a Medical Record-based, Store and Forward and Provider-to-provider Telemedicine Compared to Usual Care in Catalonia: More Agile and Efficient, Especially for Users
title A Cost-Minimization Analysis of a Medical Record-based, Store and Forward and Provider-to-provider Telemedicine Compared to Usual Care in Catalonia: More Agile and Efficient, Especially for Users
title_full A Cost-Minimization Analysis of a Medical Record-based, Store and Forward and Provider-to-provider Telemedicine Compared to Usual Care in Catalonia: More Agile and Efficient, Especially for Users
title_fullStr A Cost-Minimization Analysis of a Medical Record-based, Store and Forward and Provider-to-provider Telemedicine Compared to Usual Care in Catalonia: More Agile and Efficient, Especially for Users
title_full_unstemmed A Cost-Minimization Analysis of a Medical Record-based, Store and Forward and Provider-to-provider Telemedicine Compared to Usual Care in Catalonia: More Agile and Efficient, Especially for Users
title_short A Cost-Minimization Analysis of a Medical Record-based, Store and Forward and Provider-to-provider Telemedicine Compared to Usual Care in Catalonia: More Agile and Efficient, Especially for Users
title_sort cost-minimization analysis of a medical record-based, store and forward and provider-to-provider telemedicine compared to usual care in catalonia: more agile and efficient, especially for users
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7143363/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32197434
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062008
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