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23. Jahrestagung des Deutschen Netzwerks Evidenzbasierte Medizin e. V.

Deutsches Netzwerk Evidenzbasierte Medizin e. V.

01. - 03.09.2022, Lübeck

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The economics of telemedicine in German follow-up care – findings from a randomized controlled trial in orthopedic and trauma surgery

Meeting Abstract

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  • Jennifer Muschol - Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Juniorprofessur für Gesundheitsökonomie, Gießen, Deutschland
  • Christian Heiß - Universitätsklinikum Gießen und Marburg GmbH, Standort Gießen, Klinik und Poliklinik für Unfall-, Hand- und Wiederherstellungschirurgie, Gießen, Deutschland
  • Henning Schneider - Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Institut für Medizinische Informatik, Gießen, Deutschland
  • Ulrich Thormann - Universitätsklinikum Gießen und Marburg GmbH, Standort Gießen, Klinik und Poliklinik für Unfall-, Hand- und Wiederherstellungschirurgie, Gießen, Deutschland
  • Johanna Uhlar - Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Institut für Medizinische Informatik, Gießen, Deutschland
  • Kai Unzeitig - Universitätsklinikum Gießen und Marburg GmbH, Standort Gießen, Klinik und Poliklinik für Unfall-, Hand- und Wiederherstellungschirurgie, Gießen, Deutschland
  • Christian Gissel - Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Juniorprofessur für Gesundheitsökonomie, Gießen, Deutschland

Evidenzbasierte Medizin für eine bedarfsgerechte Gesundheitsversorgung. 23. Jahrestagung des Deutschen Netzwerks Evidenzbasierte Medizin. Lübeck, 01.-03.09.2022. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2022. Doc22ebmPOS-2_3-05

doi: 10.3205/22ebm104, urn:nbn:de:0183-22ebm1046

Published: August 30, 2022

© 2022 Muschol et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Outline

Text

Background/research question: The COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged the use of telemedicine, and especially online video consultations, in previously non-typical clinical settings, such as follow-up care for patients in orthopedic and trauma surgery. Yet, comparative economic analyses of telemedicine grounded in clinical practice are still lacking, and the economic rationale for using telemedicine beyond the COVID-19 pandemic is unclear. This study aims to evaluate the use of telemedicine by means of a health economic analysis and to provide a basis for making future decisions on implementing telemedicine in orthopedic and trauma surgery.

Methods: The health economic analysis was based on data from a randomized controlled trial that compared the use of video consultations with conventional face-to-face (F2F) consultations in the follow-up care for orthopedic and trauma surgery patients at a German university hospital. Data on costs associated with telemedicine, potential cost and time savings for patients and physicians, and patient utility were evaluated both from a health-provider and from a societal perspective.

Results: Data from 52 patients indicated that, from a health-provider perspective, 23 video consultations per month were required to recoup the investment costs of telemedicine through reduced personnel costs. From a societal perspective, telemedicine helped to reduce travel costs, time costs, and production losses, resulting in mean cost savings of €75.99 per video consultation when compared with a F2F consultation.

Conclusion: Telemedicine is less time-consuming for physicians compared with conventional F2F consultations, resulting in cost savings for clinics. It also saves travel costs as well as time – and thus time costs – for patients, and it helps to lower production losses with no negative impact on patient utility.

Competing interests: None