Telemedicine: A systematic review of economic evaluations

Background: Telemedicine is a broad term for health information technology, including procedures for electronically transmitting medical information to improve patient health. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cost effectiveness of telemedicine intervention in various specialized fields.

METHOD: Until February 2013, search Cochrane Library and Review Diffusion Center using Mesh. In this study, we compared all kinds of telemedicine with other conventional medical technologies and used the cost of each medical institution.

RESULTS: A total of 21 papers were included. According to studies included, the use of telemedicine in cardiology seems to be effective and cost effective, but the remote medical diagnosis procedure before hospitalization may have little effect on acute myocardial infarction mortality unknown. In the lungs, rural people are restricted access to professional services, so telemedicine can be a cost-effective strategy to provide rural people with outpatient treatment. The use of telemedicine is a cost-effective tool in ophthalmology, especially in the diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy. In dermatology, telemedicine is not cost effective compared to traditional care. In other areas such as physical activity and diet therapy, eating disorders, remote ICU, depression psychotherapy, on-board telemedicine, telemedicine can be used as a cost-effective tool for treatment and care.

Conclusion Most of the included studies have confirmed that telemedicine is cost-effective in major medical fields such as cardiology, but in the dermatology department, papers are more active in telemedicine I can not confirm the ability

To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review to summarize the economic efficiency of telemedicine services in Japan and to study the rigor of economic evaluation studies conducted in Japan. While the economic assessment of telemedicine is small and diverse, most evaluations indicate economic efficiency, ie savings in net costs, reduction in medical expenses, and / or positive WTP. In an MD - MD on - site consultation study in a hospital setting, the most cost - effective telemedicine is emergency radiation therapy consultation for malignant spinal cord compression. The results of this study are consistent with another validity study on spinal cord compression in Canada. This reduces patient metastasis and reduces treatment decision time. However, due to the lack of sensitivity analysis, the robustness of the reported BCR amplitude (> 4.67) is uncertain.

The analysis is based on the review of international literature from 2000 to 2013. After reviewing the full text, there are still 27 systematic reviews of 74 research and economic assessment on economic assessment of telemedicine projects. Only 26 partial economic evaluations focused on cost alone were excluded. Based on the literature review and the results of existing project research, a standardized analysis framework was developed jointly with the Methodology Working Group.

Health economics applied to telemedicine economic evaluation law: From literature review to standardization framework, development history and cultural research, government evaluation, economic evaluation, research and development