In addition to clinical benefits of telemedicine, a new study in Telemedicine and e-Health found the services achieves savings in cost, time and travel distances.
Researchers examined all telemedicine visits conducted from the Veterans Affairs hospital in White River Junction, Vt., between 2005 and 2013, approximately 5,700 telemedicine encounters for nearly 2,000 patients. The average telemedicine visits per patient were 3.1.
The study found telemedicine visits at this hospital resulted in average savings of 145 miles and 142 minutes per patient per visit. Looking at the study cohort, this equaled a total of 824,724 miles saved in travel and 13,400 hours of driving.
This reduction in driving time and distance translated into an average of $28.86 in savings per telemedicine visit, or $18,555 savings per year, for patients eligible for travel reimbursement.
Researchers note telemedicine visits significantly increased toward the end of the study period, so in 2013, the average total savings was $63,804.
However, researchers suggest this financial savings is "relatively modest," totaling just 3.5 percent of the total travel pay budget in 2013.
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