A new study suggests that rolling out telemedicine systems nationally in the U.S. to emergency departments, correctional institutions, doctor's offices and nursing homes could pay off big time, saving about $4.28 billion annually. What's more, the savings didn't even include using telemedicine for inpatient floors of hospitals, home monitoring, interpreters or medical education--just provider-to-provider communication.
The study, which was conducted by the Center for Information Technology leadership at Partners HealthCare System, examined systems based on store-and-forward technology, real-time video and a hybrid combination. It concluded that while benefits exceed costs for all three approaches, hybrid seemed to offer the biggest bang for the buck.
To find out more about this research:
- read this Health Data Management piece [1]
- read the report [2] (.pdf)
Related Articles:
SPOTLIGHT: CA poised for telemedicine leadership. Report [3]
California offers $25 million in tele-health grants. Report [4]
MI hospital fight stroke with telemedicine effort. Report [5]
Study: Telemedicine offers clinical, cost benefits for chronic disease care. Report [6]
Trend: Managing chronic diseases remotely, with mobile tech. Report [7]
Links:
[1] http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/telemedicine25175-1.html
[2] http://www.citl.org/_pdf/CITL_Telehealth_Report.pdf
[3] http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/spotlight-spotlight-ca-poised-telemedicine-leadership/2007-11-05
[4] http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/calif-offers-25-million-tele-health-grants/2007-08-27
[5] http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/mi-hospitals-fight-stroke-with-telemedicine-effort/2006-10-23
[6] http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/study-telemedicine-offers-clinical-cost-benefits-chronic-disease-care/2007-11-05?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss
[7] http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/trend-managing-chronic-diseases-remotely-mobile-tech/2007-09-17