Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-26777
Publication type: Article in scientific journal
Type of review: Peer review (publication)
Title: Evaluation of the effect of a multifunctional telemedicine device on healthcare use and costs : a nonrandomized pragmatic trial
Authors: Banning, Stefan
Höglinger, Marc
Meyer, Delia
Reich, Oliver
et. al: No
DOI: 10.1089/tmj.2022.0166
10.21256/zhaw-26777
Published in: Telemedicine and e-Health
Volume(Issue): 29
Issue: 4
Page(s): 510
Pages to: 517
Issue Date: 2022
Publisher / Ed. Institution: Mary Ann Liebert
ISSN: 1530-5627
1556-3669
Language: English
Subjects: Digital health; E-health; Health care expenditure; Managed care; Digitalisierung; Gesundheitswesen; Ökonomie
Subject (DDC): 362.1041: Health economics
Abstract: Background: Telemedicine health insurance models are highly prevalent in the Swiss health care system. Nevertheless, the potential of telemedicine is only partly being achieved, since current telemedicine health insurance models are limited to an initial contact by telephone and a gatekeeper role that organizes access to health care providers such as general practitioners, specialists, or hospitals. Against this background, a telemedicine device with diverse visual and auscultatory examination functions was made available to 2,000 telemedicine-insured clients. This device allowed diagnostic information to be sent to a medical care provider and used for telemedical consultation. Objective: To determine whether the additional implementation of a multifunctional telemedicine examination device resulted in fewer physical consultations, reduced service utilization, and lower health care expenditures among telemedicine-insured clients. Methods: Our analysis is based on claims data from 135,636 clients insured in a telemedicine call center model covering the years 2019 and 2020. We compare the use of health care and health care costs of clients who received a telemedicine device with those without such a device, using multivariable regression to adjust for group differences due to self-selection. Results: We found lower total health care expenditures of -229 (Swiss Francs) and lower inpatient costs of -160 (Swiss Francs) on the part of clients with the telemedicine device. However, the implementation of the telemedicine device did not lead to a statistically significant reduction in service utilization. Conclusions: The treatment of telemedicine-insured clients was on average more cost-effective when they received the multifunctional telemedicine device. Accordingly, complementing the existing telemedicine model with telemedicine devices that allow for improved telemedical consultations has the potential to increase the cost-saving potential of the existing telemedicine call center models.
URI: https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/26777
Fulltext version: Accepted version
License (according to publishing contract): Licence according to publishing contract
Departement: School of Management and Law
Organisational Unit: Winterthur Institute of Health Economics (WIG)
Appears in collections:Publikationen School of Management and Law

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Banning, S., Höglinger, M., Meyer, D., & Reich, O. (2022). Evaluation of the effect of a multifunctional telemedicine device on healthcare use and costs : a nonrandomized pragmatic trial. Telemedicine and E-Health, 29(4), 510–517. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2022.0166
Banning, S. et al. (2022) ‘Evaluation of the effect of a multifunctional telemedicine device on healthcare use and costs : a nonrandomized pragmatic trial’, Telemedicine and e-Health, 29(4), pp. 510–517. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2022.0166.
S. Banning, M. Höglinger, D. Meyer, and O. Reich, “Evaluation of the effect of a multifunctional telemedicine device on healthcare use and costs : a nonrandomized pragmatic trial,” Telemedicine and e-Health, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 510–517, 2022, doi: 10.1089/tmj.2022.0166.
BANNING, Stefan, Marc HÖGLINGER, Delia MEYER und Oliver REICH, 2022. Evaluation of the effect of a multifunctional telemedicine device on healthcare use and costs : a nonrandomized pragmatic trial. Telemedicine and e-Health. 2022. Bd. 29, Nr. 4, S. 510–517. DOI 10.1089/tmj.2022.0166
Banning, Stefan, Marc Höglinger, Delia Meyer, and Oliver Reich. 2022. “Evaluation of the Effect of a Multifunctional Telemedicine Device on Healthcare Use and Costs : A Nonrandomized Pragmatic Trial.” Telemedicine and E-Health 29 (4): 510–17. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2022.0166.
Banning, Stefan, et al. “Evaluation of the Effect of a Multifunctional Telemedicine Device on Healthcare Use and Costs : A Nonrandomized Pragmatic Trial.” Telemedicine and E-Health, vol. 29, no. 4, 2022, pp. 510–17, https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2022.0166.


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