TY - JOUR
T1 - A cost-minimization analysis of the societal costs of realtime teledermatology compared with conventional care
T2 - Results from a randomized controlled trial in New Zealand
AU - Loane, M. A.
AU - Oakley, A.
AU - Rademaker, M.
AU - Bradford, N.
AU - Fleischl, P.
AU - Kerr, P.
AU - Wootton, R.
PY - 2001/8/1
Y1 - 2001/8/1
N2 - A randomized controlled trial was carried out to measure the societal costs of realtime teledermatology compared with those of conventional hospital care in New Zealand. Two rural health centres were linked to a specialist hospital via ISDN at 128 kbit/s. Over 10 months, 203 patients were referred for a specialist dermatological consultation and 26 were followed up, giving a total of 229 consultations. Fifty-four per cent were randomized to the teledermatology consultation and 46% to the conventional hospital consultation. A cost-minimization analysis was used to calculate the total costs of both types of dermatological consultation. The total cost of the 123 teledermatology consultations was NZ$34,346 and the total cost of the 106 conventional hospital consultations was NZ$30,081. The average societal cost of the teledermatology consultation was therefore NZ$279.23 compared with NZ$283.79 for the conventional hospital consultation. The marginal cost of seeing an additional patient was NZ$135 via teledermatology and NZ$284 via conventional hospital appointment. From a societal viewpoint, and assuming an equal outcome, teledermatology was a more cost-efficient use of resources than conventional hospital care.
AB - A randomized controlled trial was carried out to measure the societal costs of realtime teledermatology compared with those of conventional hospital care in New Zealand. Two rural health centres were linked to a specialist hospital via ISDN at 128 kbit/s. Over 10 months, 203 patients were referred for a specialist dermatological consultation and 26 were followed up, giving a total of 229 consultations. Fifty-four per cent were randomized to the teledermatology consultation and 46% to the conventional hospital consultation. A cost-minimization analysis was used to calculate the total costs of both types of dermatological consultation. The total cost of the 123 teledermatology consultations was NZ$34,346 and the total cost of the 106 conventional hospital consultations was NZ$30,081. The average societal cost of the teledermatology consultation was therefore NZ$279.23 compared with NZ$283.79 for the conventional hospital consultation. The marginal cost of seeing an additional patient was NZ$135 via teledermatology and NZ$284 via conventional hospital appointment. From a societal viewpoint, and assuming an equal outcome, teledermatology was a more cost-efficient use of resources than conventional hospital care.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/0035223518
U2 - 10.1258/1357633011936453
DO - 10.1258/1357633011936453
M3 - Article
C2 - 11506759
AN - SCOPUS:0035223518
SN - 1357-633X
VL - 7
SP - 233
EP - 238
JO - Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare
JF - Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare
IS - 4
ER -