Economic evaluation of telemedicine for a remotely located population: the case of two Greek islands
Economic evaluation of telemedicine for a remotely located population: the case of two Greek islands
复制标题
对偏远地区人口远程医疗的经济评估：以希腊两个岛屿为例
DOI：
10.1504/ijeh.2005.006473
复制
发表时间：
2005
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
D. Niakas
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
C. Tsitlakidis;J. Mylonakis;D. Niakas
在希腊空军作战部队所在的利姆诺斯岛和斯基罗斯岛上的两个偏远保健中心进行了为期12个月的远程医疗试验。这些部队的医疗服务由雅典的希腊空军第251中心医院通过以个人电脑为基础的ISDN电视会议连接提供支助，连接速度为384 Kbps。本试验招募了38名患者。进行了成本最小化分析，以比较远程医疗与医院转诊的成本，后者是指偏远地区的患者前往医院就诊。每名患者远程咨询的费用计算为203.5欧元，而转诊费用为270欧元。经敏感性分析测试后，这些结果证明相对稳健。在岛屿或其他此类偏远社区，病人必须长途跋涉住院或接受专家咨询，因此，好处和节省的费用会更大。但是，应当指出，远程医疗的费用取决于在隔离地区接受服务的病人人数。
A 12-month trial with telemedicine was conducted at two remote health centres located on Greek Islands, namely Lemnos and Skyros, where combat units of the Greek Airforce are situated. The units' medical services are supported by the 251st Central Hospital of the Greek Airforce in Athens, via a PC-based ISDN videoconferencing link, connected at 384 Kbps. Thirty-eight patients were recruited for the trial. A cost minimisation analysis was undertaken, for comparing the costs of telemedicine to those of hospital referrals, where patients from remote areas travelled to the hospital for consultation. The cost, per patient, for remote consultation was calculated to be 203.5 euro compared to 270 euro for referrals. These results proved to be relatively robust after being tested with a sensitivity analysis. The benefits and cost savings would be greater in the case of islands or other such remote communities, where patients have to travel long distances either for hospitalisation or for specialist consultations. However, it should be noted that the cost of telemedicine depends on the number of patients served in the isolated area.