Economic Modeling of Heart Failure Telehealth Programs: When Do They Become Cost Saving?. (26th July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Sheena Xin; Xiang, Rui; Lagor, Charles; Liu, Nan; Sullivan, Kathleen
• Other Names: Hu Fei Academic Editor.
• Is Part Of: International journal of telemedicine and applications. Volume 2016(2016)
• Publication Date: 2016-07-26
• Subjects: Telecommunication in medicine -- Periodicals; Medical telematics -- Periodicals; Télémédecine; Télématique médicale; Medical telematics; Telecommunication in medicine; Telemedicine -- Periodicals; Medical Informatics -- Periodicals; Biomedical Technology -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 610.285
• DOI: 10.1155/2016/3289628
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1687-6415

Abstract

Abstract : Telehealth programs for congestive heart failure have been shown to be clinically effective. This study assesses clinical and economic consequences of providing telehealth programs for CHF patients. A Markov model was developed and presented in the context of a home-based telehealth program on CHF. Incremental life expectancy, hospital admissions, and total healthcare costs were examined at periods ranging up to five years. One-way and two-way sensitivity analyses were also conducted on clinical performance parameters. The base case analysis yielded cost savings ranging from $ 2832 to $ 5499 and 0.03 to 0.04 life year gain per patient over a 1-year period. Applying telehealth solution to a low-risk cohort with no prior admission history would result in $ 2502 cost increase per person over the 1-year time frame with 0.01 life year gain. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that the cost savings were most sensitive to patient risk, baseline cost of hospital admission, and the length-of-stay reduction ratio affected by the telehealth programs. In sum, telehealth programs can be cost saving for intermediate and high risk patients over a 1- to 5-year window. The results suggested the economic viability of telehealth programs for managing CHF patients and illustrated the importance of risk stratification in such programs.