The Economics of Telerehabilitation

Abstract

This paper is an analysis of the economics of physical telerehabilitation, at home, in the clinic, and at work. This study was a precursor to generating a business case for manufacturing telerehabilitation systems. Pilot studies were performed and structured interviews conducted with providers, payers, patients, and employers. The data obtained were analyzed, in conjunction with published data, to understand the economics with respect to parameters such as lost opportunity costs at work, faster rehabilitation, and cost savings to patients, providers, payers, and employers. The results showed that telerehabilitation has a positive business case with respect to all the stakeholders. The ability to quantify and analyze data from patients remotely is convenient and economical to providers. Patients benefit by getting back to their normal activities faster, both at home as well as work. Telerehabilitation at work allows employees to be treated at work without having to take time to go to a clinic. Lost opportunity costs for employers are minimized when workers return to work faster and are treated onsite. The ability to measure progress quantitatively is beneficial for patients, providers, payers, and employers. Additionally, malingering can be detected and eradicated using telerehabilitation. Proper application of appropriate telerehabilitation technologies makes eminent economical sense. There is a strong business case for the application of telerehabilitation, onsite, in large corporations and therefore is profitable to medical device manufacturers.

Development and implementation of technologies for physical telerehabilitation in Latin America:

“…Perhaps this is due to the fact that several telerehabilitation initiatives retrieved in this study have emerged as technological developments more than real clinic applications. In contrast to reports from other regions around the world [9], [10], [12], our findings demonstrate that in Latin America there are no previous studies of economic and assistive benefits regarding these kind of assistive technologies used by ei-ther government or private health care systems to provide rehabilitation services. Therefore, a huge multidisciplinary effort by clinicians and researchers is necessary to validate-from the clinical and economic point of view-the profitability of assistive technologies used in remote urban areas in each country in this region.…”

“…Besides, the charges depend on the cost of living in each country, a fact that makes more difficult to estimate constant economic benefits of telerehabilitation. Therefore, the cost effectiveness of telerehabilitation programs has been evaluated for a specific disability, as described in [8]- [10], [12]. Thus, telerehabilitation is still considered a growing alternative to traditional face-to-face therapy that employs technological solutions to remotely provide rehabilitation care in both clinical centers and in-home programs.…”

Economic Evaluation of Manitoba Health Lines in the Management of Congestive Heart Failure

“…An environmental scan of home telehealth programs available in Canada was conducted through email with the appropriate contact person in a regional health authority or ministry of health for each province and territory and by retrieving information from a provincial report 20 and an article. 21 The questions asked of each jurisdiction were: • Is there a home telehealth care program currently available in your jurisdiction?…”

Telerehabilitation and recovery of motor function: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…This approach, broadly referred to as telemedicine, may guarantee better continuity of care from hospital to patients' home, as well as patients' monitoring and counselling 1 . ICTs has become a valuable option also for rehabilitation supporting the birth of a new branch of telemedicine, called telerehabilitation 2,3 .…”